Reset!
by Randomality
Summary: Faced with being shipped out to Denver to live with Jay Garrick after the disappearance of Max Mercury, Bart argues to remain in Manchester with Helen. Impulse begins to search for ways to save Max on his own and reaches out to friends and allies. AU.
1. Divergence

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

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**_Reset! - Chapter One: Divergence  
_**

_The grandson of Barry Allen, the second man to run as the Flash, Bart Allen was born in the thirtieth century with his speed powers on full and grew up at a hyperaccelerated rate in a virtual reality world. With death from old age before his third birthday threatening him, his grandmother, Iris Allen, returned to the past with him. She brought him to her nephew, Wally West, the third man to run as the Flash, for help. After his powers were stabilized, Bart took on the name Impulse and the elder speedster known as Max Mercury took him on as a pupil and ward. They located to the town of Manchester, Alabama, where they eventually moved in with Max's daughter, Helen Claiborne. One day, while Max was investigating an anomaly in the Speed Force that gave all of the speedsters their power, he vanished into it. _

_Got all that? Now to resume the story in a house in the suburbs of Manchester..._

Bart lifted his chin in defiance. "No!"

Green eyes locked onto yellow ones in a battle of wills. "Look, Bart, I really don't have time to argue this!" Wally tried to keep his patience and temper, but Bart had an unerring talent for inspiring annoyance and irritation. A glance at the red costume he wore as the Flash reminded him of his duties and he tried his best to channel his uncle Barry in moments like these. "You should stay with Jay Garrick in Denver right now. He'll take up training you." Now with Max's disappearance, Wally wanted someone to take over the task of mentoring Bart, but that mentor would need far more patience than he could muster. No amount of trying to channel his sainted predecessor would help him if he had to handle Bart for more than a half an hour. He wasn't this much of a pain to Barry, was he? He still couldn't figure out what he had done to deserve dealing with a timelost, ADHD-addled speed-teen.

Bart's expression was still resolute under the thick mop of unruly chestnut hair. "But Max is gonna come back soon, right? Why do I need to move, if I'm just gonna come back?" When Wally didn't reply fast enough, he glared. "We _are_ going to find Max."

"As soon as we have an idea where he went to, yes." Wally let his breath go and steadied it. "We can't just run off without a plan and look under every random rock on the planet. In the meanwhile, I want Jay to pick up where Max left off in training you."

"I don't have to move for that," Bart countered, "You said yourself that I can cross continents in the time it takes for kids my age to cross the street! I can just run over to Jay's whenever we're going to train." He turned a frantic glance to Helen. "Manchester is my home! I have friends here! I don't want to leave!"

Helen was leaning against the kitchen counter with a mug in her hand. "He's right, Wally. He can run to Denver anytime he wants to. Besides, I think I would start to get lonely with things so quiet around here." Gripping her cup, she stared down into the dark coffee. "It shouldn't take too long before I have a full house again."

When she looked to Wally, he couldn't hold her gaze and he looked away. "Are you sure you can handle Bart alone?"

Over Bart's indignant protest, she nodded and replied, "He may be three years old, but he's not a toddler. Actually, I'm thinking that he can take over a few more household chores, maybe learn to cook dinner a few nights a week. He's only got a few more years before he's legally an adult and has to fend for himself. Jay can teach him the superheroing while Max is gone. I'll teach him the rest." She turned her full attention to Bart. "Does that sound like a deal? If it's just you and me for now, we'll split the chores."

Over Bart's eager agreement, Wally raised an eyebrow at Helen. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He was already hearing the fire alarms at the thought of Bart cooking. "Are you sure?"

"If he doesn't behave, I ship him out to Jay." Helen speared Bart with a wicked grin.

Then Wally looked to Bart. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Bart replied with an emphatic "Yes!"

Helen set her mug on the counter. "Well, if that's the deal, then it's effective as of right now." She scribbled a list on the notepad next to the refrigerator and gave the page to Bart, along with some money. "Here, go pick these up at the store. Normal speed, Bart. We'll start off simple on the cooking. I don't feel like eating sandwiches tonight. Remember, normal speed."

Once Bart was out the door, Helen turned her full attention to Wally. "Why aren't _you_ taking up his training?"

He crossed his arms, knowing that this question was coming. "I don't have the time or the patience he needs. Jay will do a better job at it."

"How much time do you think Jay will really have for him? Isn't he already a mentor to other kids? And with Joan sick, he'll want to be with her." Helen's eyebrows drew together, deepening the crease between them. "Do you think he'll have the time or the focus he'll need to help Bart readjust? And what about Bart? He needs the support of the friends he has here after all that's happened. He's lost his best friend and then the closest person he has to a father. Yes, Wally, that's how close they've become. Once Bart leaves here, he can't come back without the mask. Not without raising a lot of difficult questions."

After a quiet moment, Wally managed his reply. "I don't like the thought of him being here without supervision that can keep up with him. He's a good kid, but he's a disaster waiting to happen."

"If you're that worried about him, why don't you stop by more often?" Helen refilled her mug with some fresher coffee. "I know you two won't ever be Flash and his sidekick, Kid Flash. Maybe that's the problem." When Wally tried to interrupt, she held up a finger to silence him. "But he still looks up to you, even though he may not reach out to you anymore."

Wally was quiet while Helen filled a second mug with coffee and handed it to him. Staring into the depths of the dark liquid, he tried to look past the reflection. "If he gets to be too much or goes too far out of control, call me," he told her, "You never asked for this job and I don't think it's fair to burden you with it."

Helen paused with the mug halfway to her mouth. "With all due respect, Wally, I have asked for it and I don't consider it a burden. I have never objected to Impulse being in my town or my home and I consider his presence here a blessing. Yes, he's young and inexperienced and he makes mistakes, but he's a _boy_, for crying out loud! He can't help being what he is."

"He's a boy with _superpowers_," Wally countered, "His mistakes can mean people being hurt or killed."

Helen's expression hardened. "Have you been watching the news or reading the papers at all? _Normal_ teens make mistakes where people are hurt or killed every day. They don't need superpowers to do that. Look, I understand your concern, but Max will be back soon enough and I can handle Bart in the meantime. I promise I'll call if I need your help."

"All right," Wally finally conceded. He set his mug aside and slipped his cowl over his head. "I should get going now. I'll stop by to check up on things here when I can." He opened the back door and disappeared, leaving only a rush of wind to close the door behind him.


	2. Game On

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

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_Reset! - Chapter Two: Game On  
_

Bart smiled when he saw Carol approaching the door. Now that she was back in Manchester, he often spent his free time with her. Once the door latched behind her, he exploded into excitement. "Guess what? I just got back from a really big fight! A whole bunch of heroes teamed up to help Empress take on the guy that killed her parents! It was awesome! We flew my spaceship over there and there was a giant lady and we kicked a lot of butt!"

Carol couldn't help but share Bart's energy and was smiling along with him. She didn't understand what he was talking about yet, but it sounded pretty epic. In a way, she wished that she was there along with him, having grand adventures.

"Hey, d'ya think I'll get that kind of help when I go rescue Max? That would be so cool!"

Carol pushed her glasses higher onto her nose. "Aren't the Flashes going to help you?"

He settled on the couch with some of his energy already quenched. "Well, yeah. They keep saying they will and that they're working on it. But nothing's happened yet." Picking up his videogame controller, he unpaused his game and continued from where he left off. "I kinda feel like there's something they're not telling me." He frowned and tried to let the game take up most of his attention. He didn't much like thinking. Too many thoughts he didn't like would come up and then he couldn't get them to leave him alone. But sometimes he just couldn't avoid them. "It's kinda like they don't think they're gonna be able to get Max back. Like they've already given up on him. So what if they don't know when Rival went to! Can't they find some way to find out? If I had an idea of when he went, I could send out a scout and track him down that way. But I don't know if he went forwards or backwards." At a lull in the gameplay, he let the controller sit idle in his hands. "I sent a scout to Mom and asked her to look into it. Wally and Jay don't know I've been doing that."

It took Carol a moment to remember that the scout Bart was referring to was an energy-based duplicate of himself that he could create and reabsorb. Not only did the duplicate copy Bart's appearance and speed, but it could also move through the timestream. "Has she found anything?" Carol remembered the time she spent with Meloni Thawne, a resident of the thirtieth century. It was adventurous and educational in a way she could never have experienced in the present time.

Bart shook his head. "Not yet and I've sent a scout to her a few times to get updates. But if she hasn't found anything, it doesn't really mean much, right? Maybe Rival went further into the future. Or maybe he's in part of Mom's past that they've lost records on. Right?"

Carol nodded in reaffirment. "Keep trying, Bart. Maybe the Flashes are working on this too, but they're just at the same point you're at." When the game's action picked up in a boss battle, Bart let the conversation drop. Carol watched commands fly across the screen as Bart pushed buttons as fast as the console processors could keep up with. "Have you ever thought of what you were going to do once you caught up with Rival? I mean, he's been fighting Jay for decades and took out Max. He's going to be one tough boss to fight."

Shrugging, Bart didn't let up on his pace. "Kick his butt, get him out of Max, and make sure he can't ever do it again."

Carol bit her lip softly, not surprised in the least by this answer. "Bart," she ventured, "I think you need to level up a little first before you take on Rival."

"In what? Fighting? I'm already working on that."

"In everything, not just fighting. You need to learn how to track him down and how to figure him out before a fight."

Bart looked away from his game, pausing it again. "You really think so?" When Carol nodded, he fingered the controls thoughtfully. "How'm I supposed to do that?"

"Well, training with Jay is a start. Maybe your friends in Young Justice could help you, too." Carol frowned; this was a difficult question to answer. "You could research Rival, find out his strengths and weaknesses, and find out how he would act in a fight. Jay could help you with that, too. Maybe you could even find a way to free Max while you're at it." She pointed to his game. "If you only had one shot at a boss battle in that game, no resets, how would you do it?"

"Um, well," he gathered his words together, "In this game, it's easiest to do all of the little sidequests and minigames to level up and get all of the items and upgrades. It takes a lot longer to get to the fight though."

"But you get through it on the first try?"

Bart nodded, "So, what are my sidequests?"

"I don't know. You'll probably know them when you get to them."

"Huh." Bart slumped down and shook the stray brown hair away from his face. "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

"C'mon, let's go," Carol said as she pulled Bart to his feet. He saved his game and shut it off before following her out the door and locking it behind him, as Helen had drilled him to do. Despite drilling him to remember to lock the door when he left the house, Helen had yet to get him to remember to bring his keys.

In another house elsewhere in town, a black eyepatch and short-cropped blond hair made Eddie easy to recognize. Most of the others in Bart's Manchester posse were not so thrilled to have the abrasive wannabe gangster hanging around, but Rolly insisted that he was a friend. Rolly brought in the popcorn and settled on the couch, while Eddie set the television to the correct channel. After pressing "play" on the remote control, the boys were treated to the opening scene of a crime drama. A coroner spoke to a couple of crime scene investigators, elicting a line of dry wit from the lead before the title theme and credits. Rolly looked to his friend. "Why don't you record this show at your place?"

Truth be told, Eddie started watching the genre to learn how the police traced down criminals. It was a sort of preparation for his future career as a third generation meta-criminal. Or that's what he told himself. After a while, a couple of the shows grew on him and he didn't want to miss any of the episodes. Then his dad's work schedule changed, which meant that he was home in the evenings. Not wanting to admit to anyone other than his closest friend about his television habits, Eddie convinced Rolly to start recording the shows for him. Not wanting to admit all of that to Rolly, Eddie said what he thought would be reasonable. "I told ya, my old man takes over the t.v. when he's home, so I don't get to watch what I want."

Rolly decided not to make an issue of it and let it go. "So, there's supposed to be a CSI with superpowers in this one?"

Eddie nodded, still intent on the screen. "Uh-huh. That's what the previews said." He slipped into his best television announcer voice, "A CSI from Central City shows up to help with the case. Will the team discover his secret?"

After the episode ended, the boys were visibly thrilled. Rolly turned off the television. "Henry was awesome!"

Eddie nodded in agreement. "I wanna be able to go through walls and have bullets go through me like that!"

"And he almost blew his secret! I though they were on to him for a while." Rolly headed for his computer. "I wonder if he's gonna show up again?"

He navigated to a fansite's forums to look for spoilers. Eddie hover over his shoulder. He thrust out a finger and pointed to a link. "Henry's based on a real guy? Go there!"

Rolly clicked the link and they read the post. "A guy who used to be the Flash was a police scientist in Central City."

Another line caught Eddie's attention. "Barry Allen and he's been dead for years. Huh. I wonder if Bart's related to him?"

Rolly shrugged. "Maybe, but I bet, if he is, that's it's so distant that he doesn't even know about it. He would have said something if he was. Right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right," Eddie agreed. That reminded him of something else that he was meaning to talk to Bart about.

Later, Eddie rode his bike and caught up to Bart on the sidewalk in front of his house. After abandoning the bike in the yard and glancing over his shoulder as if to check that no one was watching, he leaned close and spoke quietly. "I know that you've been in my grampa's lab."

Bart froze and stared into Eddie's one good eye. "Wh-what? Um..." He managed not to blurt out every explanation solely because they had all jammed in that single synapse between his mouth and brain.

"That necklace you were always carrying around while Carol was gone," Eddie added, "I saw it in the lab." They continued walking towards Bart's door. "What were you doing there?"

"Um..." Bart reached for the doorknob and found it locked. He reached into his pockets to search for the keys, and then realized that he left them inside. Normally, this wasn't a problem. He could easily vibrate through the door or a wall, like he usually did when he locked himself out. But now he had a witness to complicate the situation. "I left my keys inside."

Eddie rolled his eye. From his jacket pocket, he produced a set of lockpicks. "Here's the deal: I get you in and you talk to me." He didn't wait for Bart to agree. Instead, he knelt in front of the door and began picking the lock. Bart watched in fascination as Eddie worked. His movements were still awkward and clumsy, but quickly adapting and adjusting to the skill. Soon, the door swung open.

"Where did you learn that?" Bart pointed to the picks as they walked inside.

"None of your business." Eddie closed the door behind him. "So, how do you know my grampa? Why were you in his lab?"

Bart glanced around the room, wishing that someone other than Eddie and Dox were there with him. Maybe Helen would come home early? Maybe Carol or Preston or Mike would stop by? What should he say? What should he do? How could he explain this? "Um, he was friends with Max." It was part of the truth, which made things easier.

"So? That doesn't explain why you were in his lab. He doesn't like _me_ in his lab."

Bart remembered the various times he had been in Morlo's lab. All of them were as Impulse, even though Morlo knew his civilian identity. The last time was to investigate his then-recently acquired duplicating-ability. "I was with Max." Another partial truth. Those were easier to keep track of than lies. Besides, he was never very good at lying. "He had something he wanted Dr. Morlo to look at." Bart felt pleased with himself. He was answering the questions truthfully without spilling his secret. Max would be proud of this performance, he was sure of it.

Eddie crossed his arms. "What was it?"

Bart had no good way to avoid this, except for a shrug and, "I can't say."

After scrutinizing Bart for a few agonizing long moments, Eddie finally nodded. "Okay. Whatever." He surveyed the room. "Nice place. Later." With that, he left the house.

Bart let his breath go, relaxing in the empty house. He looked down at Dox, who wagged his tail. "That went pretty good, huh?" After having a hefty sandwich, Bart passed the front door again and found his dog waiting there. Dox barked and whined at the door, giving Bart an imploring look. Bart raised an eyebrow. "You wanna go for a walk?"

Dox perked up at the keyword of "walk" and barked again. When Bart had the red leash in his hand, the dog spun about in a few circles. As Bart took Dox for a walk, he began recalling the work Dr. Morlo did with Max and the Speed Force. That work saved Max's life once before. Perhaps it could help again? As soon as Dox was back in the house, Bart suited up and ran to Dr. Morlo's lab.

As soon as he vibrated through the door, he realized that he should have called first, but he was already there. "Dr. Morlo? Hello? Anybody home? Hello?"

From a corner of the lab, behind some equipment, Morlo's voice answered, "Be quiet, will you? I'm working with some volatile materials!"

"Sorry!" Impulse looked at his hand through a large magnifying glass attached to a workbench.

Dr. Morlo, with his conspicuous white-streaked wild hair and goggles, soon emerged from his work. "What is it, Impulse? You should have called first. I work with dangerous materials in here. The last thing I want is a surprise explosion."

"I know, but this is important," Impulse replied, "I need your help." He recounted Rival's possession of Max and subsequent disappearance to the retired mad scientist. "And now I don't know how to find him. I thought that maybe, since you did so much work with Max and the Speed Force, you could help."

Morlo leaned against the workbench with a heavy sigh and settled his goggles atop his head. "This won't be an easy project." He shuffled to a file cabinet and pulled out a thick manila folder fastened shut with a string. He brought it back to the workbench with the magnifying glass. Inside the folder were pages upon pages of handwritten notes and charts. He flipped through the papers, reviewing the reams of information, muttering under his breath from time to time. Impulse tapped his foot impatiently, for lack of anything else to do and he was incapable of staying still. Eventually, he spoke to the youth. "I can't guarantee anything. As far as the Speed Force is concerned, I have barely scratched the surface in terms of understanding it. I doubt I can locate Max for you. I doubt I can even point you in the general direction. But I will see what I can do. I may need to use you as a reference and I will call you should the need arise." He shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear about this, Bart. I know how much Max means to you."

"Thanks, Doc." Impulse felt himself smile in spite of the agitation he felt about Max's disappearance. Even though no revelation was made in the matter, he felt he had made some progress in the case. "You'll let me know if you find anything?"

"Of course."

After thanking Morlo again, Impulse raced away. Now that he didn't have any pressing needs to address, Impulse decided to take a run through the countryside, just to enjoy the sunshine. A brown splotch on his sleeve caught his attention and quickly became distracting. Pausing in a field, he pulled at the fabric, finally noticing that layer of grime that dulled the white and red of his costume. His last epic fight was a messy affair on a muddy battlefield and he had simply put his suit away like he always did when he came home. He rubbed at the stain on his sleeve, but it didn't simply brush off. Maybe it was time to wash the suit? Orienting towards home, he dashed away.

Once in the safety and privacy of his bedroom, Bart peeled off the suit and changed into his normal clothes. Instead of collapsing the suit and returning it to its compartment in his ring, he left it out. Holding it up, he sniffed at the fabric. It didn't smell too bad, in his opinion, just a little stale. He stuck his face down the neck of the suit and sniffed once. Jerking back with a wince, he wrinkled his nose. That odor burned in a combination of ripe teen boy sweat, electrical tang, and something akin to fried plastic. Just to verify, he sniffed it again and confirmed the stink. He tossed the costume over the back of his desk chair under his lofted bed and sniffed at his arm. A trace of the odor clung to his skin. Wrinkling his nose again, he walked to the bathroom.

He heard the door open and Dox's greeting bark, which meant that Helen was home. "Helen!" he called as he walked out of the bathroom, "My uniform is really stinky and I need to get it washed!" He stepped into the living room and spotted Helen with her boyfriend, Matt Ringer. He was a muscular and tall widower, whom Helen met when she needed to have her office restored after an act of a New God.

Matt raised his brow. "Uniform? I didn't know you played sports."

Bart fumbled for words and simply said, "Uh, yeah."

"What do you play?" He settled on the couch, while Helen stared at Bart.

"Baseball," he quickly blurted. "I play baseball. I have a baseball uniform. My baseball uniform is really stinky. Because I played baseball. That's why I have a baseball uniform." Turning about, he stiffly walked back to his bedroom, barely holding back the urge to run.

Helen patted Matt's shoulder, "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Sure, whatever you have would be fine," he replied. Then he added quietly, "If Bart wasn't underage, I'd say he could use a stiffer sort of drink."

"He gets a little strange sometimes," Helen admitted, "It just goes with the territory."


	3. Just Us

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

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_Reset! - Chapter Three: Just Us  
_

A little bird zipped by and hovered in front of a flower in the back yard. Staring at the iridescent feathers and the rapid wingbeats, Bart watched the hummingbird feed on the nectar. Enchanted, the boy delighted in watching a tiny little creature break the statue-stillness of his world. At his hyperaccelerated speed, Bart approached the hummingbird to get a closer look. A few heartbeats later, the hummingbird backed away from the flower and flew away.

Helen was at the kitchen sink, rinsing out the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, when Bart came back inside the house. "I guess I should set a feeder out for the hummingbirds," she remarked with a smile that made the laugh lines on her face deeper. "I should have thought you would like those little guys."

Bart put together the slow syllables, waiting for the sentences to end. It took forever and sometimes it was hard to remember what was at the beginning of the statement by the time the speaker reached the end of it. Though, this time, he managed to keep the entirety of Helen's speech. "What do you feed them?"

"Sugar water," Helen replied, "It's simple enough to make and they're perfectly happy with it."

"Cool." He glanced out the window to see if the hummingbird had returned yet. "Do we have a feeder?"

"I think I have one in the garage. I'll go get it." Several minutes rummaging through the garage later, Helen managed to find the feeder. It was covered in dust and needed a good cleaning, but it was serviceable. By the time she returned to the kitchen, Bart had let Carol in. Helen set to cleaning the feeder thoroughly. It was the sort with a glass container for nectar and four little, red, plastic flower perches.

Carol adjusted her glasses. "Spotted a hummingbird?"

"Yeah," Bart replied as he pulled a soda from the fridge, "It was really cool. Helen's gonna feed it. They eat sugar water."

Carol decided not to make an issue about the term eat for something that is drank. "Yeah. They need a lot of it to keep up with their metabolism. The little plastic flowers are red because hummingbirds really like that color." She stared at Bart drinking soda in his red shirt and laughed.

Frowning, Bart set his soda on the table. "What so funny?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing. Any leads on finding Rival?"

Shaking his head, Bart pulled a box of microwave popcorn out of a cabinet. "My scouts still haven't found anything."

Helen glanced over her shoulder. "You're sending out scouts?"

Bart put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and set the timer. "Uh, yeah. Don't tell Wally or Jay, okay? I'm supposed to let them handle it, even though they're not finding anything. Wally would probably chew me out if he found out."

Tucking strands of silver hair back into her streak, Helen sighed. "I doubt that, Bart. If anything, he might want to hear that you're sending out your scouts. I would bet that he even forgot that those little guys exist. I did, until you reminded me just now."

"Really?"

After the popcorn was ready, Bart settled down on the couch and watched a movie that Carol had brought over. When the credits rolled, he frowned. "There's something I'm supposed to be doing, but I don't remember what it is."

"Chores?" Carol supplied helpfully. Bart thought about this and then shook his head. She tried again. "Homework?" Bart shook his head again. Carol thought carefully. "Is it anything impulsive?"

"I don't think-" Bart's yellow eyes widened and he sat up. "_Grife!_ There's a meeting today! I'm late! Rob and Wondy are gonna kill me!" In an instant, he was in his red and white uniform and bolting out of the house.

Impulse raced across the countryside in uniform, keeping just below mach. There was no point in ripping sonic booms to rattle walls and shatter windows if there was no emergency, as much fun as it was. The loaned Young Justice headquarters had seen better days, but it was a welcome sight. Slowing down just enough to prevent his wake from causing further damage to the building, he passed through the walls and screeched to a halt in the kitchen. Three other teens were already sitting at the table in a melancholy air. Even through the yellow lenses of his goggles, the mood was blue.

Hesitantly approaching the table, Impulse was expecting bad news. Did he miss another funeral? That could be it. He hadn't heard anything about the services for the fallen Titans, Donna and Lilith. "Guys? What's up?" He almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"Since we turned down the offer to join the Titans," Wondergirl replied, "The JLA has decided that Young Justice is going to disband."

Robin had his green-gloved hands calmly folded on the tabletop. "After the debacle with the Titans, they decided to pull all support for us as a group. Either we operate through approved channels or not at all."

Superboy's voice held a sharp, angry edge. "Three strikes and we're out."

Impulse's jaw dropped. "What?! They can't do that!" He did a double take as the words sunk in. "They asked you to join the Titans, Wondy?"

She nodded silently. Golden hair slipped over her shoulders when she shrugged. "I don't know if I can keep up with school and go to San Francisco every weekend. I don't know if I can make the kind of commitment that being a Titan demands right now. Maybe later, but not now. I have a lot of things to deal with first."

Robin's hands were still folded on the table. "Same here. Coast to coast is a long trip and I just don't have the time for that. There are a lot of other things I need to do. Maybe later, but not now."

"And without the rest of you guys," Superboy added, "There's really no point to it. Besides, we don't need even more mentors. If the ones we have aren't cutting it, the Titans aren't going to, either." He aimed a pointed glance at Robin. "To me, Young Justice wasn't just some little league version of the Titans. My goals were set a little higher." Then his blue eyes darted to Impulse. "What did you say to the offer?"

Impulse's lips twisted and turned to a frown. "They didn't ask." Now that hurt. Did Wally say something to make them pass him over? Did Jessie? "I guess, y'know, since I already did the Titans thing, they thought I already had my chance. That's not fair! They can't break us up! We came together without the JLA and worked without them and saved a lot of people on our own! We didn't have to have their approval! We were just us!"

Superboy shot to his feet. "Exactly!"

Wondergirl stared at Impulse. "You were a Titan?"

"Yeah. Back when Arsenal led the team." Anger and hurt was rapidly dissolving into a massive case of being bummed. "Anyone else want a sandwich?"

Superboy was already striding towards the refrigerator. "Sure. This is our last day here, anyways. Might as well clean out the fridge before we go."

Soon, Impulse had his overstuffed sandwich in his hands and moments later it disappeared into his face. Wondergirl curled her lips. "Bart, the only thing you don't do when you eat is oink."

He ignored her comment and propped his elbows on the table. "So, what are we gonna do now? We can still hang out, right?"

Robin stood up and began to walk to the food-laden counter. "I don't see why not."

Superboy was still putting together his sandwich. "That's how this all started anyways."

A sly grin slipped onto Wondergirl's face. "And if a little trouble comes up while we're hanging, we can take care of it. It's only convenient."

Matching Wondergirl's expression, Superboy added over his shoulder. "I'm liking that. Is it an order from our fearless leader?"

"Not if we're just hanging out with each other." She pushed away from the table and stood. "No group. No leader. Just friends." She crossed her arms and raised her chin in defiance. "And no one can disband that."

After the sandwiches disappeared, Superboy sat backwards in a chair and sighed, "It's gonna be a big waste of all that nice, shiny equipment Snapper scored for us."

Wondergirl peered over her shoulder at the kitchen doorway. "I know. Too bad we don't have somewhere to move it to. Besides just shoving it in storage, that is."

"If we did, we would have a new headquarters," Robin pointed out, "If we have a headquarters, we won't be considered disbanded."

Superboy scratched at the dark stubble on his chin. "And that's a problem how?"

Propping her cheek on her fist, Wondergirl answered, "Because if we were still a team, everyone else would be on our cases and trying to babysit us, if not break us up again." She sat up and glanced around the room. "Where's Bart?" She dreaded losing a visual on Impulse, since there was no telling where he would go or what he would do.

"He could be anywhere," replied Robin as he gave the kitchen a cursory scan. "He'll be back. Back to the headquarters issue, I agree with you, Cassie. We can't have a headquarters if we're operating clandestinely."

"Breakin' out the big words there, Rob," Superboy quipped.

Robin ignored that comment and continued, "Considering our track record, it's probably to our advantage if we operate in a decentralized manner. Communications may be an issue, since we may be monitored." He paused and steepled his fingers together. His domino mask obscured the crease in his brow. "However, we have Impulse."

Wondergirl sat up. "Are you saying we should use him as our own personal Hermes?"

Impulse's voice piped up from the doorway, "Hermes is the messenger of the gods and his Roman version is called Mercury. Like Max!" There was no obvious sign of where the young speedster had disappeared to. There was no armload of candy, no videogame, no random piece of some villian's costume, or toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his boot.

"That's right," she affirmed, "I think I see what you're getting at, Robin. If we need to get everyone together or to send a message to everyone else that we don't want the League, Society, or Titans to hear, one of us will give Bart a call to visit and he will relay the message from there." She looked to the speedster, "Are you okay with that?"

"Cool with me," he answered, "If we're leaving here, where am I gonna park my spaceship? Helen's backyard isn't big enough."

Drumming his fingers on the back of his chair, Superboy was obviously thinking something over. "Hey, Bart... How much space is in the cargo hold again? You think it could store our equipment?"

Impulse zipped to the other room where all of the monitoring equipment was set up and visualized it sitting in his spaceship. He darted back to the other others. "Yep! It can fit. Hey! Could we set it up in there? Like, so it's plugged in and works?"

Raising an eyebrow, Robin tilted his head, "Are the power systems compatible? I'm not sure that any of us have the technical expertise to safely install that system." Immediately, he knew that the warning would go unheeded. He was talking to Kon and Bart, after all. "Well, I guess blowing it up is better than letting it all rust."

Superboy stood up and started walking towards the doorway. "It's also better than just sitting around here and moping. C'mon, Cassie, let's get this stuff loaded."

Wondergirl pushed herself away from the table to join him. "Bart, go look for a new home for your spaceship." Before she could say anything more, Impulse was gone.

In the speedster's eye, the landscape crawled by as he searched for a suitable new home for his vessel. Cars, trains, and people all stood still for him while he navigated around them. He needed somewhere flat enough to land and remote enough that the Max wouldn't be found and broken into. The plains of the midwestern states fit both criteria at first glance, but his choice locations were either farmland or military installations. Wasn't this also tornado country? His mind's eye played out scenes of twisters whirling through the countryside. That might be bad. He wasn't sure how well his prized spaceship would fare against one. Some of those twisters were _huge_. When the tornadoes got big enough, it was better just to make sure that people didn't get killed, rather than take on the tornado. The ride might be fun for a while, but it the landing sucked.

He veered south and kept a scan on the horizon for anything interesting, slowing or stopping whenever he found a place he wanted to look closer at. It was very open in this area and he wondered if anybody would notice a big, white spaceship sitting in the middle of scrubland. Maybe he should go further west? He kicked dust across plateaus and navigated around ravines and canyons. There were some pretty areas around here and he paused at a small winding river to take a rest in the shade of a steep, rocky slope on the other side. He kneeled down along the water and took a drink, trusting his metabolism to help defend him from any waterborne illness. Where was he? New Mexico? Arizona? Did he already cross the Colorado River? Well, he would know to stop when he hit the Pacific Ocean. Maybe he should start going north? There were some remote areas between the north Sierra Nevadas and the Great Salt Lake. It was real boring to run through. This entire run was getting boring. Impulse ran northwest, crossing over more desert and scrub.

A draft on his knee caught his attention and he paused to check it out. There was a hole in his suit over his right knee. Frowning, he looked for an area where he could sit and fix it. Once seated, he took the edges of the hole in his hands and vibrated the fabric molecules of one edge into the other, merging them together. It was a slow process, since he had to be real careful not to get the mend crooked or clumpy or the result would pull or rub against his knee weird. That was really annoying.

Another plume of dust streaked westward across the earth, catching Impulse's attention. There was a familiar pattern of red and yellow at the head of it, telling him that his cousin was on the move. It wasn't that much of a surprise, since there were only so many speedster-friendly routes across the Rocky Mountains and over the Colorado River. It was the same case with the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The dust comet stopped and turned towards the red on white uniform of Impulse. In speedsters' time, it looked as if the Flash was taking a leisurely jog towards his younger cousin.

Still at an accelerated pace, the older speedster asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"My knee blew out," Impulse replied as he tried to keep the repair in alignment, "I gotta fix it."

"That's not what I meant. What are you doing so far from Manchester?" the Flash clarified.

Impulse was still trying to fix on the tear. He was so close to being done and if he stopped now, the repair wouldn't turn out right. "I'm looking for a place to park my spaceship, since Young Justice is being broken up and we have to leave our base."

Underneath the red cowl, Wally raised an eyebrow. "You have a spaceship?"

"Yeah, I told you about it before," Impulse reminded him, "That's how we got to Apokolips and back. But now I need to find a safe place for it."

"Waittasec, so the spaceship is _yours_? Personally? I thought that… Nevermind. It doesn't matter." He took a long breath while Impulse finished mending his suit. "Look, Cyborg called me over to help him with something in San Francisco, so I can't help you with it right now. But, I'll help you figure something out later, okay? Maybe I can pull some strings for you and get you some hangar space somewhere."

Impulse smiled brightly and stood up, bending his knee to test the repair. "Really?" It felt okay, but he could tell that there was something different than before.

"Sure. I'd hate to see that thing just rust in the open." Bemused, the Flash shook his head. "So that thing is yours? Most kids your age would be drooling over the thought of getting a _car_ in a couple years. Well, now I know who to call the next time I need to get into orbit. I'll catch up to you later, Bart." With that, the Flash sped away. Impulse brushed the dust from his bottom and ran back to his friends to relay the news.

* * *

A/N: Part of this chapter is recycled from a previous fic attempt I made.


	4. Convictions

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Four: Convictions_

Bart set to cleaning the clutter off of his bedroom floor before Helen could see the mess. He looked to the closet, but knew better than to try to throw everything in there again. It didn't work the first time and Helen was certain to check there again. Dirty clothes were tossed into the hamper, while games and videos put away in no particular order in the organizers that Helen had bought for him. Under a discarded jacket, he found his guitar. The strings were broken on it again and he had none to replace them with. After setting it back on its stand, he started on cleaning out the habitat for the two white rats he kept. It was abandoned since the rats had escaped. Bart had searched the entire town for them, but came up empty handed. By now, he was sure that he wouldn't see them again. It was time to put the habitat away and free up space.

It took a while to make space in the storage closet in the garage, but he managed to fit the disassembled habitat in there. A draft breezed across his back, bringing him out of a crouch. Closing the closet door, he turned, but only saw an empty garage.

He finished tidying up his bedroom, believing that Helen would be pleased to see it. That would prove that he could keep up his end of the deal and he wouldn't be shipped away to live with Jay Garrick. Tonight was Helen's night to make dinner, which he didn't mind, since that usually meant pizza, takeout, or a prepackaged freezer dinner after she came home from work. Both Bart and Dox heard Helen's car pull into the driveway and the garage door open. Dox hopped out off of the couch and trotted to the door to wait for her.

Dinner was prepackaged fettuccini alfredo that took under fifteen minutes to cook in a skillet. It took even less time for Bart to eat. As Bart washed the dishes at slightly-above-normal speed, there was a soft knock at the back door. Helen turned off the television and answered it. There weren't many people who would go to the back door of the house.

The red costume of the Flash was unmistakable. Once safely inside, he pulled back his cowl and glared at Bart. "You're not supposed to go on any patrols without either Jay's or my supervision, Bart."

"I didn't!" he retorted.

"Impulse busted up a robbery in Des Moines this afternoon in typical Impulse style."

"It wasn't me!" Bart insisted, "I wasn't there! Whoever busted that robbery wasn't me!"

Wally crossed his red clad arms. "If it wasn't you, then who was it? He looked like you, sounded like you, and acted like you. He even caused your typical disaster zone. Half that block was blasted to pieces."

"Wally, you're not listening! It! Wasn't! ME!" Bart's fists were clenched, ready to deck his cousin out of pure frustration. "It was somebody else!"

Rubbing at the space between his eyes, Wally sighed. "Then can you at least tell me where you were when this happened?"

"Yeah." Bart thought back for a brief moment. "I was cleaning my room so Helen wouldn't flip when she came home. I wasn't in Des Moines!"

"Was anyone else here with you?"

"Dox."

"Anyone who can speak."

"Dox speaks. He just speaks in dog."

"Bart." The tone was a warning.

"Nobody else."

A frown deepened across Wally's face, changing his expression to a scowl. "Go to your room, Bart."

Bart bared his teeth and clenched his fists. "_What?! _Hey, who d'ya think-"

"Go!" he barked.

Helen's voice was gentler. "Bart, don't you have homework to do?"

Yellow eyes darted glances between the adults. "Fine." Bart sulked off to his room and slammed the door. A few moments later, he vibrated through the wall and positioned himself to eavesdrop on the conference in the kitchen.

Wally's voice carried well, making it easier to overhear. "At least he's not trying to blame it on spacemen this time. But I don't think this denial thing is any better."

Helen's voice was a little harder to hear. "With all of the weird things I've seen happen around him and Max, it's not impossible that he's telling the truth." There was a pause, followed by, "I think you should at least look into it before convicting Bart."

"Convicting? I'm not-"

"Then reserve your judgment until you have better proof." The kitchen went quiet briefly. "He had a doppelganger clone take his place before and no one knew the difference. He also has frequent flyer miles when it comes to time travel. On top of that, he can create those duplicates. Maybe the Impulse that's botching on those patrols is a scout that he lost track of? I'm just saying that it's entirely possible that Bart is telling the truth."

"Helen, I understand what you're saying, but it's hard not to think that it was him." Wally's voice became a little quieter. "Can you verify that he was in bed between two and four in the morning last night, local time?"

"No, I was asleep then."

"Well, Impulse was busy on the west coast between those hours. With the way he was running around and acting, he might as well change his name to Collateral Damage Boy. It almost looks like there was another riot in east L.A. I'm getting the fifth degree from both the local authorities and the JLA. Impulse isn't supposed to do anything without my supervision and I can't keep a leash on the kid."

"It's also possible that perhaps he is doing what you said he did, but doesn't remember it."

Bart's jaw dropped at that. He wasn't anywhere but in bed during that time, he was sure of it!

Wally's tone was skeptical, but intrigued. "Sleep-running?" He paused in thought. "What could cause that?"

"I don't know," Helen replied, "That's up to you figure out, if that's even the case."

"Until then, I want Bart to stay with Jay. He can keep an eye on him better than you can. No offense."

"Isn't there some other option than relocating Bart? I know that you mean well, but I don't think that will be the best for him."

"It's that, or I steal his speed. That would make sure that he can't go anywhere fast."

Bart's eyes widened and he felt his blood chill. Helen's voice seemed to share his sentiment. "You can do that?"

"I don't want to, unless it's a last resort."

"Then we'll leave that as a last resort," Helen stated. "Until then, just look into the other possibilities before you do anything to Bart."

"Sure, fine, but I don't like this. Bart's a loose cannon. He's a good kid and his heart's in the right place, but I don't much believe in his ability to control himself."

Bart heard Wally walking towards the kitchen doorway and slipped back into his room. After a while, Helen knocked on the bedroom door. "Bart?" She opened it and stepped inside. "You _did_ clean your room! I almost forgot what kind of floor was in here." Seeing that Bart didn't think her joke was funny, she continued, "Wally's going to look into what's going on, in case it's another doppelganger or a lost scout. You don't have any scouts loose, do you?"

"I don't think so." He was certain that all of the scouts he had sent out had returned. Just in case he was wrong, he closed his eyes and sent out the command to call his scouts back. When nothing happened, he shook his head. "Nope. If there's a scout out there, he's not listening to me."

"Is that possible?"

He shrugged, "I guess. I dunno." Truth be told, he still didn't know exactly how the scouts worked.

"Well, don't worry too much about this tonight," Helen reassured him, "I'm sure we'll get this straightened out soon. Just do me a favor, would you? Stay home and let Wally handle it. If you and the fake are running around at the same time, it will make things harder."

Sullenly, Bart nodded and climbed up to his lofted bed. As soon as the bedroom door closed and he was alone, he reached for his phone. He called Kon, and then Robin's civilian line, but did not get a reply from either of them. That wasn't much of a surprise for him; they were often busy with their own social lives, let alone their duties. He called Cassie, wondering if Wondergirl was also busy. To his relief, she answered, "Hello?"

"Cassie? It's Bart."

Her tone was surprised and a touch apprehensive. "Bart? What's up?"

"I'm grounded."

Now her voice was tinged with exasperation. "What did you do _this_ time?"

Bart frowned at that. "Nothing!" Then he heard a couple of familiar voices from the other side of the line. "Are you with Anita and Cissie?"

"Yeah, we're on our way to see a movie. Mrs. King-Jones is taking care of Anita's parents for the evening. I'm thinking she wants more quality time with Agent Maad."

"Oh." He really didn't care about any of that.

Cassie continued the conversation. "So, I guess we should hope that we don't need fleet feet anytime soon. Thanks for letting me know." She chuckled and said warmly, "That was responsible of you, Bart."

"Yeah, no problem." His frown twisted into a pout. That wasn't what he why he called. "Cassie, I'm stuck at home 'cause Flash thinks that I'm running around and botching patrols real bad and wrecking stuff, but it's not me that's doing it! So, if you see me tonight, it's not me, okay? Make sure you beat him up good for me, 'cause he got me in trouble."

"Are you serious? Have you told Kon and Rob yet?"

"Yeah, I'm serious!" Then he added, "Kon and Rob didn't pick up when I tried to call them."

"I'll try reaching them." There was a brief pause, and then, "So, you're actually staying put?"

"Yeah. Helen said that if I'm running around too, it could be harder to catch the fake," he answered, "Besides, what if the fake shows up here? What if he waits for me to leave and then tries to hurt Helen and Dox?" The idea hadn't occurred to him even seconds before, but now he realized how important it was for him to stay. A cold jolt sent his heart racing. He dropped down to the floor and moved to check up on his foster mother. She was curled up on the couch in front of the television and playing one of his videogames. Dox was on the floor, lying on top of the controller's cable. _Safe_. With a sigh of relief, he spoke to Cassie, "Keep an eye out and let the guys know for me, okay?"

"I'll do that," she replied, "If you need any help, give me a call."

After they said their goodbyes and hung up, Bart joined Helen on the couch. He watched her navigate her character through a perilous dungeon. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he sighed. "I miss Max. He could help me fix this. He would stick up for me and then he'd scan the Speed Force and then we'd go track down the fake. Max would have a plan and everything and then this would be over and I could go running. I hate this!"

Helen's expression softened under the flickering light of the screen. "I miss Max too."

Bart got an idea from his own tirade. Sitting cross-legged on the couch in imitation of what he had seen Max do when he meditated, he touched his forefingers to his thumbs and closed his eyes. Now what?

He heard Helen's voice beside him. "Bart? Are you trying to commune with the Speed Force?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"Are you sure that's safe?" A worry crease formed between her eyebrows. "That's how Rival was able to possess Max in the first place."

"I know, but I gotta try." All he was aware of right now were the sounds of the room. He tried to sit quietly and contact the source of his powers. Nothing happened. This was getting boring. His leg was getting twitchy. He had an itch on his nose. He was a little hungry. Squirming on the couch cushion, he tried to ignore all of those distractions, which only made them stronger and more insistent. He scratched at his nose and flexed his leg. "This isn't working. I'm gonna go make a sandwich."


	5. Renegade

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Five: Renegade_

The moment Bart stepped into the kitchen, he stopped cold. Wally was there in full Flash uniform, cowl on and all, and his posture and scowl did not speak of a pleasant visit. Helen stood between them, her expression worried.

Bart took an instinctive step back, ready to run. "What's wrong?"

The Flash's voice was hard and edged. "Why don't you tell us? Why are you doing this?"

Tensing and feeling the rush of lightning pulse through his veins, it was difficult for Bart to maintain speech at the slowed, "normal" pace. "I don't get it. What am I doing?"

"Stop this," the Flash warned, "Impulse stopped a mugging in Baltimore, but caused a four car accident in doing so. Three people went to the hospital. Fortunately, the injuries were minor. If I didn't see the traffic cam footage, I wouldn't have thought it possible to do what you did there."

"It wasn't me! I wasn't in Balti-!"

"Stop!" Taking a deep, steadying breath, the Flash gathered his composure. "By what I've seen, it's not a loose scout that's causing havoc and you haven't had an alibi for any of these incidents. The Impulse responsible looks like you, acts like you, sounds like you, and moves like you. I know you have a doppelganger out there, but there's only one way I can think of to prove that it's him. I'm stealing your speed and you're going to stay in Manchester. If Impulse shows up again, then I'll believe you and _I'll_ take care of it. If these incidents stop, then..." He shook his head with his green eyes closed. His voice became quieter. "I don't know what I'll do with you."

In panic, Bart did the first thing that came to mind. He ran. Pushing against his limits, he did not dare look behind him. He already knew that the Flash was chasing him. He vibrated through obstacles, leaving them for the Flash to maneuver around. His path was erratic with sharp turns wherever he felt the need for them. After drifting through a wall and angling hard right while still inside the building, he continued his escape attempt. Still not looking back, he vibrated through another wall and stopped.

His heart was still racing and he looked to see where he was. It was the inside of a church. The chapel was dark and the pews were empty. Bart dove for cover under a pew and waited. Did he outmaneuver the Flash? Could Wally track him down? The seconds crawled by. If Max were chasing him, how would he find him? Footprints? That didn't work so well on concrete and asphalt. He shivered at the next thought. Max could commune with the Speed Force. Could Wally do that by now? How could he hide from that? What should he do now?

An eternity passed before he felt safe enough to crawl out from under the pew and sit down on it. If he didn't use the Speed Force, could he still be tracked? There was no way to know for sure, but he recalled that Max usually didn't know when a psycho speedster was going to pop out of the Speed Force until they were active. With that, Bart decided that he wasn't going to use the Speed Force unless absolutely necessary. In any case, he needed help. His first idea was the active Young Justice crew, but Wally would think of alerting the JLA to watch them. Batman would think of that, at least.

Bart propped his elbows onto his knees. What would Batman do if the Flash were hunting him down? Batman didn't have any superpowers, right? Bart drew a blank for solutions. Batman would at least know where he was. Getting up, Bart walked up the long aisle and to the locked doors. A quick twist of the deadbolt knob and the door was unlocked and open. It looked like about the same time he left Manchester and the sign in front of the church was in English. Walking towards the street and down the sidewalk, he searched for clues about his location. Every now and then, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that there wasn't a red streak barreling down on him.

Passing by a small strip mall, he spotted a public phone booth. Where there was a phone booth, there was a phone book! On top that, there was a convenience store there and he was hungry. The phone book told him that he was in region of Omaha, Nebraska. He raised a thick eyebrow at that. How many right turns did he take to run all that way and only end up in Omaha? At least the phone book had a map and he found his approximate location in the city on that.

Stepping inside the minimart, he bought a couple of cheap burritos that were best when nuked from orbit. Sitting along the wall outside of the store, he settled down to his dinner. On the other side of the doorway, a pair of men stood. The shorter one in the trenchcoat was smoking, while the taller blond one spewed out a steady stream of vulgar language. Bart tried to ignore them and, past the expletives, he understood that they were lost and it was the lunchbox's fault. Whatever that meant. Eventually, they walked away. Bart was grateful for that, since thinking was hard enough without listening to verbal diarrhea.

Who could he go to for help? He really hated this whole thinking thing. It never quite worked the way people said it would. Whoever he went to needed to know that he was Impulse, since his problem centered on that identity. So that ruled out his Manchester posse, except for Carol. But Wally would think to look there. Also, whomever he went to couldn't be watched or interrogated by a mentor. That ruled out Kon, Robin, Cassie, Anita... Anita? Bart swallowed the last bite of burrito. Who was Anita's mentor? Did she have a mentor? He rattled his memory, but couldn't come up with a mentor for Empress. Where was she now? Baton Rouge? That wasn't too far from Omaha, as he reckoned. It wouldn't take long to get there. But he didn't dare run, in case Wally was able to detect and track draws on the Speed Force.

So, how could he get there quickly? Plane? He was sure he didn't have the money for that. Bus? That might be in his budget. He recalled the last time he went anywhere on a bus, which was a trip to the coast with Carol, Preston, and Rolly. That gave him some clue on the process. But didn't it take forever and a half to get anywhere that way? He just remembered the trip taking way too long and being bored out of his mind. Where was the nearest bus station? He returned to the phone book and flipped through the pages.

After a phone call to the bus depot, Bart discovered that he didn't have near enough money to buy a ticket to Baton Rouge. Besides, the trip would take a full day and a half. There was no way he was going to stay cooped up on some motorized snail for that long. He started walking south, just to give his legs something to do. He would rather run, but the image of Wally chasing him down kept his urge in check. After several minutes, he looked over his shoulder to see how much ground he had covered and was disappointed at the meager distance.

He picked up his pace to a loping jog well within the bounds of normal human speed. Eventually, he found a major highway and started following it. It was the sort of route he would take when he ran at a hair below supersonic speed. Now, vehicles sped by him with roaring engines and gusts of tainted wind. Normally, he would be zipping between the seemingly stationary cars. It sounded far different now to have the engines approaching him. Looking back from time to time, he was frustrated with his slow pace. He felt like a slug.

On the other side of the highway some distance behind him, he spotted a man walking alongside the road with his thumb out. Hitchhiking? Could he do that, too? Riding in someone else's car would be faster than the pace he was holding to now. He slowed down and stuck out his thumb. After a while, he was getting bored, so he started walking backwards. That let him see the cars as they approached. Maybe he should have figured out some way of getting on the bus? At this rate, it would take forever to get to Baton Rouge. Maybe he could have found the bus and snuck onto it? It would be better than walking around in the dark.

Just as the last rays of the sun faded over the horizon, a semi truck slowed and pulled over. Bart jogged over to the truck and climbed through the opened passenger door. A stocky, middle-aged, blonde woman wearing a baseball cap waited for him to buckle in. "Where're you headed?"

"Baton Rouge," Bart replied, wrinkling his nose at the scent of stale cigarette smoke.

"That's pretty far," she replied as she pulled her truck onto the highway. "I'm going south, as it is. I'll clip Louisiana, but I don't think I get all the way to Baton Rouge. What's your name?"

"Bart Allen," he answered without thinking.

A young woman's sleepy voice piped up in the cabin behind the seats. "Mama? You pick someone up?"

"Bart's on his way to Baton Rouge," the driver replied, "Young boy all alone on the road these days isn't safe at all these days. Not that they were all that safe before. Especially one this pretty."

The woman leaned out from between the seats. "He's pretty?"

Bart's jaw dropped. He knew that face with bright blue eyes and long, platinum blonde hair all too well. "_White Lightning?!_" What was she doing out of jail so soon?

She jerked to full alertness. "You know me?" She gave him one of her dazzling smiles. "Well, you _are _pretty, aren't you? I know some folks that would die for that... hair..." Squinting in the dim light, she peered at him. "Mama, put on the overhead light." Under the light, White Lightning examined him. "I know you! Where do I know you from?" Bart squirmed in his seat, hoping that she wouldn't identify him. "What's your name?"

"Bart Allen," he repeated as the light turned off. He wasn't sure if this was worse than being caught by Wally or not.

"That sounds familiar," she mused, "But I don't think you ever put on one of my jackets. Were you in one of the older crews? Nah, you couldn't have been. You're too young and I usually throw 'em back when they're that small. Unless-" She snapped her fingers, "That hair! Manchester!" Bart felt his guts seize up. "You're that little spitfire! You came along on that botched casino job!"

Bart laughed uneasily, recalling the event. "Yeah! I rode on your bike!"

"Well, how ya been, spitfire?" White Lightning beamed, "Ain't this a long way from Alabama?"

"Yeah, I guess," he admitted.

"Running from something?" she guessed. When he nodded, she sighed, "Trouble at home?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You have problems with your dad?"

"My dad died when I was a baby," Bart told her, "Then my uncle disappeared, so now my cousin is in charge of me. But he thinks that I'm a walking disaster zone, even though I'm not the one causing the trouble. He was going to... make sure I couldn't cause any trouble. So, I ran. I need to get to Baton Rouge, 'cause I have a friend there that can help me."

"Sounds like you're in fix, sweetie," remarked White Lightning, "Well, you helped me once, and I like to repay favors."

"I didn't help you much," reminded Bart.

"Well, I couldn't expect you to take on Impulse. A real live superhero? He'd have made short work of a small fry like you. I've watched him do it to other folk and got nabbed by him myself. Not that I like to admit it." White Lightning settled into a more comfortable position behind the seats. "When the bullets start flyin', it's best that the amateurs get out of the heat, anyways. Don't want anyone gettin' hurt."

The driver spoke as she merged onto an interstate freeway. "We got about three hours before our next stop." She glanced at Bart. "We're gonna pass right through Central City and stop in Kansas City."

White Lightning added, "The Twin Cities are Flash turf and his little brother has given me enough trouble. I don't want to deal with the big red jammies, if I can help it." Bart snickered at that description and nodded in agreement. White Lightning yawned and rubbed at one of her eyes. "I'm not sure if I'll be up to my game tonight. That last job was a real drag." She tapped Bart's shoulder, "Hey, spitfire. How about you pay us back for the ride by helpin' me out? You've volunteered before."

It wasn't a hard choice to make. "Sure." After all, he could keep White Lightning out of trouble that way. He had done it before.

She tousled his wild chestnut hair and added a little extra honey to her drawl. "I knew I could count on you."

He grinned at that and asked, "So, what am I gonna do?"

"Pretty standard fare," she answered, "Wear the colors, hold a gun, and just scare folks a little. Don't need to shoot or anything. If things get tough, you take off. Minimum risk and maximum thrill."

"Sounds cool." He twisted around in his seat to get a better look at the charismatic bandit, but something else caught his eye in the low light. "Whoa! It's like a mini house back there!" There was a bed, a sink, a microwave, a television, and lots of compartment doors.

Mama chuckled, "A sleeper helps when we're on routes that don't go by truck stops."

"And it beats having to hunt for a shower," White Lightning added. She stood and navigated to the bed, flipping it up against the wall to reveal a pair of seats and a small table that folded out. She flicked on a light over the dinette. "Come on back and have a seat, spitfire."

Bart unbuckled and unsteadily made his way back to sit across the tabletop from her. She fished a pack of cigarettes and an ashtray out of a nearby drawer and brought one of the sticks to her lips. She held the pack out to the boy, "You smoke?"

Bart shook his head. "They smell bad and they're not good for you."

White Lightning chuckled and nodded. "You're right on that." She lit the cigarette and took a long drag from it. Crossing her legs and leaning against the wall, she let the plume of blue smoke go. Bart tried to hold his breath until the wispy tendrils dissipated. White Lightning continued to speak, "But, in the end, it's what you don't expect that gets ya. That's why I always say, "Live fast, die young, and leave a good lookin' corpse." Y'know what I mean?"

"I know about the living fast part," Bart admitted, "I'm not sure on the rest."

White Lightning raised a finely arched eyebrow and laughed. "Well, I can't blame ya on that!" She put out the cigarette and stretched out on the seat. From the floor, she picked up a blanket and used it for a pillow, drawing part of it over her eyes. "Since we got some time, I'm gonna get a little more shut eye. If you want to watch the TV, go ahead."


	6. Bad Company

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Six: Bad Company_**_  
_**

The truck trundled to a stop and Mama turned to her daughter and passenger. "I'm gonna refuel. Go get some dinner."

Still casually dressed in her jeans and low cut shirt, White Lightning nodded. "Got it, Mama. C'mon, spitfire. You're gonna help me out." From behind the sleeper cab, she brought out her motorcycle. She handed Bart her spare helmet before putting on her own. Soon, they were both cruising down the roads of Kansas City.

They stopped at a twenty-four hour minimart in a worn-out part of town. After stowing the helmets in the locking saddlebags, they entered the store and White Lightning handed a shopping basket to Bart. "Here, hold on to this for me, sweetie."

He followed her around isles, bored out of his mind and wondering if he could just ditch her and go somewhere more exciting. No! He couldn't do that! He had to keep an eye on her and make sure that she didn't go on another crime spree. When White Lightning stopped by the refrigerated displays near the closed deli, she paused and watched two young men with their hoods up enter the store. Her lips tightened in a slight frown, but she continued to go about her business. She picked a few premade sandwiches wrapped in plastic and dumped them into the basket.

When they approached the cashier's counter, the men were already there to purchase their items. Just as the cashier opened the register, one man brandished a knife at the cashier, while the other pulled out a handgun and pointed it at White Lightning and Bart. Neither of them flinched at the weapons.

White Lightning batted her big blue eyes and took on a provocative pose. "Now, you don't wanna point that thing at little ol' me, do you?" she purred with her honey-sweet drawl.

The gunman's jaw went slack as he stared dumbly at her. That was more than enough time for Bart to snatch the gun away from him, even as he refrained from using his speed. Swinging the full grocery basket hard into the gunman's face, Bart knocked him down and out. The man with knife backed away and bolted out of the door, swinging the glass and metal wide open. Bart picked up an energy drink can from a nearby display and pitched it at the escapee, barely missing the closing door. The shiny can bounced off of the hooded head and hit the concrete at the same time as the young man.

White Lightning took the basket from Bart and stepped over the fallen robber to set the goods on the counter for the cashier to ring up. Bart looked at the pistol in his hand. Bart followed her example and set the gun on the counter beside the basket. White Lightning raised an eyebrow and picked up the weapon. "Keep it, spitfire. War spoils."

"But I don't want it."

"Then I'll keep it." She checked the safety, and then tucked it into her waistband.

The cashier was already calling the police. Once she was done, she dumped the basket's contents into a paper bag and handed them to White Lightning. "You take these as thank you. Free."

Bart dragged the fallen gunman outside and tied him to the other robber with duct tape that the cashier had hanging from the janitorial bucket near the door. White Lightning packed the food into the saddlebags, and then tossed Bart the spare helmet when he approached the motorcycle. The flashing blue and red lights of an approaching police car brought a curse to her lips. "Let's go, spitfire."

The motorcycle roared away and down the streets, eventually stopping at a fast food restaurant featuring fried chicken. "Well, that was close," White Lightning told her passenger with a frustrated sigh. "No hanging around for questions for me. I just hope that an APB doesn't get put out for a runaway witness."

"Same here," Bart admitted.

"Well, now that we got our shopping done for tomorrow's lunch on the run, how about we get ourselves some dinner that's a little more interesting than sandwiches?" She jerked a thumb to the restaurant.

Later, Bart sat on the floor of the truck's sleeper and tucked into his meat and potatoes meal, while Mama and White Lightning ate at the tiny table. Mama swallowed a bite of her chicken and looked to her daughter. "That was some luck. I hope this isn't a bad omen for tomorrow."

White Lightning wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. Instead, she was watching the little television. "Hey, Mama... Looks like Impulse is tearing it up in Atlanta."

"Huh, good thing we didn't take that job, then." Mama didn't look up at the screen.

Bart, however, stared up at the newscast featuring a familiar red and white uniform. Frame by frame, the images flashed onto the screen and he focused as hard as he could to collect the entirety of the newswoman's words. It was no scout that damaged a few blocks while taking down vandals, Bart was sure of it now. "That's not-!" he managed to catch himself before he blurted out "me" in front of witnesses. He shoved as much chicken as he could into his mouth as a makeshift gag while he let the newscaster finish her report.

White Lightning looked toward her erstwhile accomplice. "That's not Impulse?" she asked in clarification. When Bart affirmed it, she glanced back at the television. "How can you tell?"

Fortunately, he had enough greasy food crammed into his mouth that he had some time to come up with an answer. "'Cause he wouldn't bust up bad guys like _that_."

White Lightning raised a finely arched eyebrow at that, but then nodded in agreement. "No, I guess not. He likes to just take them down as fast as he can and then run off. I still don't know what he's always in a hurry for."

Bart shrugged and stuffed his mouth again. He usually had friends to go hang out with, a videogame to play, or homework to do, instead of hanging around with the bad guys and law enforcement. Besides, they always asked questions that he wasn't supposed to answer.

Mama leaned back in the seat and lit a cigarette. "Well, hopefully that squirt doesn't show up tomorrow. First thing in the mornin', no sleepin' in."

"It's not as fun in daylight," sighed her daughter. "But I guess if that's how it goes..." She grinned at Bart, "No sleepin' in for you either. You still have to work for your keep."

Mama glanced to the boy. "You can sleep in the front if you want."

Bart nodded and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "What are we gonna be doing tomorrow?"

With a sparkle in her eye, White Lightning answered, "Stealing from thieves, sweetie."

Early in the morning, White Lightning and her erstwhile accomplice approached a small payday loan store. White Lightning wore her distinctive blue and white garb that enticed wandering eyes to look closer. Bart wore a slightly oversized jacket bearing the same colors and zigzag pattern across the shoulders. Over his head, he wore a blue bandanna that covered this thick hair and could double as a mask over his eyes. Tucked into a jacket pocket was a small caliber handgun. He didn't like the weight of it. He didn't like the look of it. He certainly didn't like the sharp, distinctive smell of it. But White Lightning insisted that he take it for "just in case" and showed him how to properly use and disarm it.

"That's our target, spitfire," she told him, "We'll go in, get the cash, and get out. It's early enough that they'll have plenty, if the armored truck's come by already."

"Like that one?" Bart pointed down the street at an approaching armored truck.

A wicked smile curved on her lips. "Oh, I like this. This is better than knocking down a loan shark. If it stops at the store, we'll take that truck. I'll give 'em the ol' whammy, and then you tie 'em up. Don't hurt 'em, though. Pull down your mask, now, spitfire. Don't show the gun until I tell you to."

Bart pulled the fold of blue cloth over his eyes, fidgeting with it until the eyeholes lined up right. It felt uncomfortably loose on his face and there was no reflection of warmth without lenses over his eyes. The truck slowed and stopped behind the store. White Lightning moved to intercept the guards and Bart followed her.

One got out of the truck and she approached him. His tension slackened and soon the other guard joined him outside of the truck at White Lightning's beckoning behest. A couple of fast strikes and both men were lying on the pavement. Bart's teeth clenched and he felt his breakfast flop in his belly. What should he do? How could he stop this and not blow his cover? What should he do? He couldn't let her get away with this! How could he think his way out of this?! He was no good at that!

White Lightning tossed the rope she had hanging on her belt to him. "Tie 'em up, spitfire. Take their radios, while you're at it." She pulled off the uniform shirt and hat of the smaller guard and put them on.

Bart tied up the guards at normal speed, trying to buy himself time to think. What would Carol do? She was smart and without superpowers, right? She would be bailing Preston out, while Impulse saved the day, and then help cover for Bart running off. She was awesome like that. But this wasn't Manchester and Bart couldn't just disappear and then come back with some lame excuse about calling the police. White Lightning wouldn't go for that.

Suddenly, the armored truck pulled away and drove down the street. Bart gaped and stared. What was she doing? She was leaving him behind! "Grife! Grifegrifegrife_grife_!"

He needed some backup on this one! But the police always had a hard time with catching White Lightning. What else could he do? He stared at the radios on the pavement. Picking one up, he played with the controls, but he had no idea what he was doing. Dropping it, he looked around for another option. There was no way he was going to let White Lightning get away with this! If Robin and Arrowette could take out bad guys without using superpowers, then he could do it, too!

Bart loped towards the motorcycle that White Lightning left behind. After a little fumbling with the controls, the engine roared to life. Giving the sportbike all of the gas he could, he sped after the hijacked truck. Speeding through an intersection against the light, horns blared as he narrowly missed collision. A siren wailed behind him and flashing lights blinked red and blue in his mirrors. Bart swore in his first language again and kept racing through the streets in the direction he was sure White Lightning took. He could already visualize White Lightning loading sacks of cash into the trailer of Mama's truck and the two laughing all the way down the interstate.

Then he spotted the armored truck a couple of stoplights ahead of him. Pulling up alongside the truck, he saw White Lightning wearing the top half of a security guard's uniform behind the wheel. She spotted him and smiled, but that smile evaporated when she saw the flashing lights. Her blue eyes widened in panic and she yanked the wheel to turn the truck down a sidestreet. The tires screeched and the truck threatened to tip, but it made the turn. Bart turned the bike and followed after her and the police followed after him.

How to stop her? How to stop her? Impulse could do it, no problem, but then he would have the Flash breathing down his neck faster than an eyeblink. His mind's eye played out the Flash stealing his speed and throwing him in jail alongside White Lightning. Maybe he could prove that he wasn't the fake with White Lightning as his alibi?

The bike soon outpaced the truck and Bart spotted bright orange signs set up along the street. "Road Work Ahead" and "Bump", they read. Bump? What bump? He just saw a gravel-filled trench in the pavement ahead. Weren't bumps those yellow painted things in the street that were supposed to slow cars down?

He sped the bike up so it wasn't quite so close to the armored truck's bumper. The front wheel of the bike hit the gravel-filled trench and jammed against the edge of the pavement. The back wheel lifted off of the ground and Bart could feel that it wasn't going to stop any time soon. He was ejected off of the bike and thrown forward. The flying sensation was fun, but the pavement was waiting for him. He instinctively sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, and vibrated his molecules to pass through the asphalt. As soon as he slowed down enough in the ground that he wasn't going to be hurt by stopping, he swam through the dark earth and climbed through the crust of pavement. Gasping for breath, he surveyed his surroundings. Above him, the armored truck was stopped with the sportbike jammed beneath its front bumper. Police cars surrounded the truck and Bart could hear them barking at White Lightning to step out. Bart froze under the truck, not sure what to do next.

_'Grife!'_ If Wally was monitoring the Speed Force, then he would have a definite ping on him, Bart realized. Should he run? Should he stay? He managed to piece together enough syllables from the police to realize that they spotted him under the truck. He needed stronger language than what he had in his vocabulary for this. Now what? If he ran now, they would see him disappear and know he wasn't an ordinary delinquent.

"Spitfire?" he heard White Lightning call out panickedly, "You okay? Spitfire?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I'm okay."

"It's gonna be okay, kid," she told him, "I'll fix this."

"Fix this?" How was she going to do that? This was looking like a good time for the reset button.

White Lightning took a few deep, focusing breaths. When she was done, she gave the police her most dazzling smile. "Now, why would you all be pointing those things at me? You don't want to be doing that, do you? You all work _so_ hard, you all deserve a break. Why don't you put everything away and go take a break? You all have done so much already." She purred to the police and was encouraged when their resolve wavered. "That's right. Little ol' me isn't much of a threat. There's much bigger fish for you brave officers to fry. You need to gather your strength for that, right? You all deserve a break. You have done so much already. Would you all go have a drink on me?"

Bart's jaw nearly hit the pavement when he saw the police get back into their cars and drive away. He didn't know she could do that! He scrambled out from underneath the truck and saw White Lightning leaning against its side, exhausted. She looked to him, and then stared. "There's not a scratch on you! I ran over you with a truck!"

He looked at his clothes, and then shrugged. "I got between the wheels."

White Lightning looked at the motorcycle under the bumper. "How? You were thrown in _front_ of the bike! You should be roadkill!" She staggered and shook her head. "Nevermind that. We can save it for later. Let's get out of here." She yanked the bike out from under the truck and looked it over. "She'll run. Get on and let's go before the cops figure out what hit 'em."

She got on the bike and Bart sat behind her. They tore through the streets back to Mama's truck. As soon as the motorcycle was secured, they climbed into the cab and took refuge in the back of the sleeper. "Hit it, Mama!" White Lightning urged, "We might have company."

Mama nodded and took the truck onto the road, soon rejoining the interstate. "How much did you get?"

White Lightning pulled bundles of hundred dollar bills from her beltpouches. "Twenty grand."

Mama hooted and grinned, "Good job, darlin'!"

"Oh, I dunno 'bout that, Mama," White Lightning sighed, "I coulda had close to a couple _million_ that was in that armored truck, but the cops got on our tail and Spitfire had a close call. Damn near gave me a heart attack."

"Oh?"

While White Lightning recounted the bungled heist, Bart stared at the money. He hadn't stopped her! Bummed, he shrugged off the jacket and pulled the bandanna off of his head. Sure, he kept the rest of the money out of her hands, but she still got away with some of the loot. He could already hear Wally's voice in his head, "_You screwed up again_."

White Lightning tousled his unruly hair. "It's okay, sweetie. You did good. We came out a little farther ahead than we went in. Don't worry about the bike. We can fix it. Just be a little more careful next time, okay? You scared the devil out of me." She had a couple of pills in her hand and swallowed them. "Scoot, sweetie. I'm gonna set the bed down and take a nap. Go sit up front with Mama."

Bart managed a wan grin and nod for her and clambered to the passenger seat. Through the window, the Missouri landscape inched by. Mama handed him a wrapped sandwich and he took it. The bites were dry in his mouth and he choked down each morsel. Now what was he going to do?


	7. Wayward

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Seven: Wayward_**_  
_**

White Lightning slept all the way to Fort Smith, Arkansas. By the time the truck pulled into the stop, Bart was more than ready to jump out and stretch his legs. Mama climbed out of her seat and nudged her daughter. "Hey, get up." Rolling over, White Lightning groaned and covered her head. Mama nudged her again. "You okay?"

White Lightning shook her head, "No, Mama."

"Got whammied by the whammy again?"

Sitting up, White Lighting nodded her drooping head. "It's not getting any easier, Mama. I don't think I'm doing it right." She looked up at her mother. "I think I need to go get some help after all."

"I don't know if she's in New Orleans anymore," Mama murmured, "But we'll go take a look."

"We don't have to go now, Mama. We still gotta finish our run. I'll be okay with a little meds and sleep."

"We'll double time there. I'll give a call when we get to Shreveport and let 'em know I'll be a little late," Mama assured her, "Besides, Bart needs to get to Baton Rouge."

White Lightning looked at the wild mop of brown hair and anxious yellow eyes peeking over the back of the passenger seat. She gave him a smile, "Right."

Mama patted her shoulder, "I'll take care of things outside." She turned to Bart. "Stay here and help keep an eye on things."

After Mama left, White Lightning pulled at her provocative costume. "I gotta get out of this. Hang on a sec, spitfire." She pulled a curtain between the front seats and the sleeper. Bart fidgeted in the seat, bored and restless. Soon, White Lightning pulled the curtain back, wearing more casual attire. "Come on back."

Bart complied and stood next to her. "What's wrong? Did you get hurt?"

"No," she replied, "I just pushed myself a little too far, that's all. Nudging determined folks isn't easy, especially when there's more than one." She sighed and rested her elbows on her knees. "I've been trying to figure this thing out and it's getting stronger, but it's just hurting me more and more. A while back, someone offered to help me out, but I thought that I could do this alone. I can't. Either I give up my whammy, which has saved my butt so many times, or I do something to fix it." She looked up at Bart and patted the empty space on the bed beside her. "So, what about you? Do you have a whammy that's saved your butt?"

Bart's face took on the expression of a startled cat. White Lightning laughed. "Don't worry, spitfire, I won't tell if you want to keep it secret. I only figured it out because hitting the pavement and getting run over by a truck didn't hurt you. The least you should have is a ragin' case of road rash. So, how'd you do it?" When he hesitated, she purred, "It's okay. You can show me. I won't think badly of you."

He vibrated his hand and passed it through the corner of the wall beside the bed and back out. White Lightning's blue eyes widened with delight. "You can walk through walls?" When he nodded, her delight turned into excited glee. "Oh, spitfire, you are worth more than twice your weight in gold for that!"

Bart stared at his hand, feeling warm and fogged. Wouldn't Wally find him? "I didn't want to do that. Why did I do that?" He looked to White Lightning with alarm. "Did you just charm me?"

"I don't know," she replied, "I didn't mean to if I did."

Panic surged through his core and he backed away from her. He wanted out. He wanted away. White Lightning reached out to him. "Wait! I didn't mean to!"

"I-I have to go!" Bart bolted over the passenger seat and out the door. His feet hit the pavement and he surveyed the dozens of semitrucks that surrounded him. Where to go? What to do? He picked a random direction and started at an easy, normal lope. He wanted to rip through the sound barrier a few times over, but the mental image of Wally nabbing him reined him in.

The steady click of heels told him that White Lightning was running towards him. He picked up his pace just enough to keep a healthy lead ahead of her. Eventually, her stamina would give out. That is, if Mama didn't step out in front of him from a doorway. He jerked to a stop just before he ran into her.

"Bart! Why aren't you in the truck?" Bart moved to run away, but Mama grabbed him. She spotted her daughter racing towards them. "What happened?"

"I spooked him," she answered. To Bart, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"It's not just that," Bart confessed, "If I..." He glanced at Mama and then back to White Lightning, "I can't do what I did, 'cause I might get tracked down when I do."

Mama scowled, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"He's like me, Mama."

Mama raised a pale eyebrow at that. "Oh. Is that why you're on the run?"

Bart shrugged, "Sorta."

White Lightning touched his shoulder. "If there's help for you in Baton Rouge, we'll get you to Baton Rouge. Don't worry 'bout anyone coming after you. We're experts at being on the run, spitfire."

Mama nudged him back towards the truck. "Go back and lay low for a bit. If anyone is coming here, they have a lot of trucks to look through before they can find you. We'll be long out of town by then."

Bart looked at the two women, and then started back to the truck. Once inside, White Lightning drew the curtain to obscure the sleeper from prying eyes. She sat down on the bed again and Bart leaned against the closet door. He desperately wished he had one of his handheld game systems with him to keep him distracted. Instead, he was treated to a near eternal awkward silence.

"I won't do that again," White Lightning vowed, "I'm going to get the help I need to get this working right."

"How did you get your ability? Were you born with it? Was it an accident?" He visualized a lab-coat clad White Lightning surrounded by vials and beakers of chemicals.

"I'm not sure," she replied, "I don't even know when it really started. I only started figuring it out a few years ago. What about you?"

"I was born like this, but I didn't know I could do it until I ran through a wall instead of hitting it." How long ago was that? It seemed like ages past. He remembered Wally trying to help him and Grandma Iris trying to talk him into taking Bart on. Why weren't they mentor and student? Bart knew that he was no Kid Flash. Every thing he did seemed to be measured against that. Why couldn't he just be Impulse? Impulse wasn't a sidekick. Impulse didn't need to be a sidekick. There was no way he was ever going to seriously put on that yellow and red suit. No way. Nuh-uh. Forget it. What was the point of being Kid Flash, if he wasn't running alongside the Flash, anyways?

"That's a serious power you got there," White Lightning remarked, "I bet some folks would love to shove you in a costume for one cause or another, if they found out. But don't let them, if you don't want it. It's your life and you're the one living it, spitfire, and don't you ever forget that."

She stood up and gestured him to step away from the closet. From inside of it, she pulled a guitar case out and set it on the bed. Inside the case, a twelve-string guitar waited to be played. She checked its tuning, and then started to strum. Bart listened to her play, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. She smiled, "You play anything?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I played the guitar at a concert at my school." He grinned at the fond memory. "It was awesome. Everyone was cheering at the end."

"No kidding?" She stopped playing and held the guitar towards him. "Wanna give it a try?"

He accepted the instrument and put his fingers to the strings. As he played, he drifted from one fragment of a song to another, fitting them together like pieces of a puzzle. Some songs sounded a little weird to him on the twelve-string, so he would move to another song, hoping it would sound better. He kept going until he found something that sounded right. White Lightning's jaw slackened. "Spitfire, you got more than one talent there. You keep working on this and I would bet that you could make some nice money."

"Really?"

"I mean it," she replied, "I've been playing since I was a little girl. Thought that I was going to be a rock star someday. I can't do what you just did off of the top of my head. You're good, spitfire. You just need a little more polish and some stage presence." She pursed her lips together, as if tasting an idea. "Can you read sheet music?"

Bart nodded. Carol had showed him how months earlier when he watched her play piano and asked about the music. She didn't let him play on the piano, though. Something about expensive repairs. Some time after that, Helen had bought him a beginner's book on playing guitar, hoping that he would pick up a hobby other than videogames.

They heard the driver side door open and White Lightning got up and poked her head through the curtain. "Ready to go, Mama?"

"We're going," Mama replied as she started the engine.

White Lightning took the guitar and put it back in its case and into the closet. The truck rumbled away from the stop and was soon back on the highway. She turned on the little television and laid down on the bed against the wall. She soon closed her eyes and slept. Meanwhile, Bart surfed the satellite-served channels. His stomach grumbled and he looked towards the refrigerator, and then to the curtain that blocked Mama from view.

He got up and approached the curtain. "Do you have anything to eat back here?"

"Look in the fridge and cabinets and help yourself."

Bart did just that and eventually settled on a sandwich made from a bagel, cream cheese, and lunchmeat. It was that or the yogurt. Once the edge was taken from his hunger, he settled back onto the bed and went back to flipping channels until he fell asleep.

When the truck stopped again, it was well into the evening. Mama came behind the curtain and woke up her passengers. "We're in Shreveport. I'm gonna go out and take care of things. I'll be bringing back dinner. You two stay here. I mean it this time."

The television was still on and White Lightning changed the channel to news. After a few minutes, she sat up and listened to the reporter intently. "Earlier today, the bandit known as White Lightning attempted to hijack an armored truck in Kansas City. Reports state that she was stopped when her accomplice, a young man identified only as Spitfire, crashed his motorcycle in front of the stolen truck and was subsequently run over. Both escaped..."

Bart lost his focus on the words by that time. He was just staring dumbly at the frames flickering by. _He_ was Spitfire! His gut sank to somewhere beneath the floor. He was a sidekick to a supervillianess! Oh, this wasn't good.

"Relax," White Lightning told him, "They don't know who you are or how to find you."

"If anyone finds out, I'm _toast_."

"Then it will be our little secret. Don't worry about it." She got off of the bed and shooed him off, as well. With a well-practiced move, she flipped the bed up to reveal the dinette. After flipping the table down into place, she excused herself into the tiny bathroom.

Soon, Mama returned with a fast food meal. While they all ate, she laid out the night's plans. "Darlin', you'll take the wheel tonight, since you're rested up. We won't get to Baton Rouge until after midnight, so we'll have to find a place for Bart to stay for the night. I don't want him walking around by himself in the dark. "

"I'll be okay," Bart interjected, "I'll just go to my friend's."

"How far in town is your friend?"

"I dunno, she's in a suburb near the university."

"We'll get you a hotel room," Mama told him, "We're not going to be driving this rig around residential areas if we can help it."

"He's a minor, Mama," reminded White Lightning, "One of us will have to check him in."

Mama frowned at this. "We have to be careful about this."

"We could just drop him off near the university," White Lightning suggested, "Trucks would be going in and out pretty often and he would fit in. He might be a little short and scrawny for a college boy, but there's security there and plenty of traffic, even late at night. He can call his friend from there."

It was obvious that Mama wasn't fond of this idea, but she nodded in agreement. "Alright. We'll drop him off at LSU. Should be easy enough to find, anyways."

After dinner, Mama flipped the bed down and White Lightning took the wheel. Bart settled into the passenger seat. Behind them, Mama closed the curtain. The truck rolled back onto the highway and headed southeast.

White Lightning glanced askance at her erstwhile accomplice. "You old enough to drive yet, spitfire?"

"I don't think so," he replied, "But I've drove before."

She grinned at that and chuckled softly. "Figures that would be the case. Are you still in school?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Let me take a guess, only so-so on the grades?"

"Yeah."

"School's boring to you, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. It's like the clock slows down in class and it takes forever for a second to tick by and it's really hard to keep track of what the teacher is say. Then the teacher will ask me a question and I don't know what they're talking about. I keep getting in trouble for the answers that I give, too. I'm not trying to be a smart-mouth! That's just the best answer that I got!"

White Lightning laughed heartily at Bart's honest frustration. "You got any plans for after you get out of school?"

Bart shrugged at that. He didn't want to tell her that he planned to be a full-time superhero. Though, all of the superheroes in his comic books had jobs for their alternate identities. He wasn't really sure if that applied in the real world, though. Wally worked as a mechanic, but that was all he knew about for sure. "I've never really thought about that."

"Living only for today, huh?" She smiled broadly, "I can relate to that. You never know if you're going to have a tomorrow. Got a lot a friends back home?"

"Yeah," he answered, "They're all pretty cool. We hang out together a lot. We even made a movie, once! That was fun, even though I had to play the bad guy."

"Looks like your friends have you pegged, spitfire," White Lightning teased. "Are you going to be putting it online? It would be a good way to get an audience."

Bart shrugged again. "I dunno. Maybe. It's up to Preston. He wants to send it in to some competition first, though. He's trying to get some scholarships to go to a film school or something. He figures that if he doesn't get it this year, he'll be able to try again next year."

"He sounds like a smart kid." White Lightning checked her mirrors and pulled into another lane to pass a slow, heavily-laden truck ahead of her. "You got a girl back home?"

"Like a girlfriend? I dunno, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"It's not like we go out on dates or anything, but we kissed once" Bart admitted, feeling warmth creeping up in his cheeks.

"You like her?"

"Oh, yeah! She's awesome and smart and fun and awesome! She's my best-best friend!"

"Is she pretty?"

"That too." His cheeks were feeling a little hotter, now that he was thinking about Carol in a different way. He never really noticed it much before, but she was developing the kind of figure that Kon would eye.

"Don't be afraid to ask her out," White Lightning advised, "If you don't make your move, she might decide to stop waiting and go with someone else. She's already given you the signal that she's ready, by the sounds of it."

"Huh. You think so?"

"I know so, spitfire," she answered.

Bart rubbed at the back of his neck and squirmed his seat. "How would I ask her out?"

"Just ask her if she wants to go. You could start out with something easy, like the old dinner and a movie routine. Just make sure that you be a gentleman about it and pay for her portion, too."

"Okay."

"I'm just wondering, how old are you, anyways?"

Bart scrambled to remember what he was supposed to answer. "Um, fifteen." Was that right? It sounded right. In any case, it was close enough.

White Lightning's blue eyes gave him a quick once-over. "Huh. Was your birthday recently?" Bart gave her a curious glance and she waved the question away. "Nevermind. I was just wondering how much longer you had until you were legal."

"Legal?"

"Eighteen."

"Oh." Bart tilted his head. "Why's that?"

"I was thinking that having a steady accomplice would be a good thing," she explained, "But I don't want to be keeping jailbait around. I'm not really into that whole Batman and Robin thing. Once you're old enough, kid, I wouldn't mind having you around as my right-hand man." She grinned wickedly, "Especially with your walking through walls gift. The things we could do with that! Between the abilities of the two of us, we'd be damn near uncatchable."

Bart wasn't sure how to respond to that. White Lightning heard a song on the radio that she liked and turned up the volume to enjoy it. After a while, the boredom caught up with Bart and he rested his head against the window. There wasn't much to see outside. Soon, he closed his eyes and napped.

Manchester was flooding. He and Max were working almost nonstop to protect the town from the rising waters, but they couldn't keep up. Max put out a call for any help he could get, including from criminals that Impulse fought against. Bart couldn't understand why Max would do such a thing. There were good guys and bad guys and that was how the world was.

"You traveled through time for years and you never became a criminal," Impulse had told Max.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Max retorted with grim seriousness.

Impulse was shocked by that answer, but was distracted from asking further. Days passed into months, but Bart had forgotten about what Max had said. Now he wanted to ask, to find out what happened, how it happened.

Bart found himself standing in an empty house. All of the furniture was gone and all of the walls were bare. Max was gone and Bart didn't know where he was. He reached out to his friends, but they either shooed him away or were nowhere to be found. He was alone. His chest tightened in panic and he started running as fast as he could across the countryside. But no matter how hard he ran, the landscape inched by so slowly.

In front of him, lightning streaked over the ground. In the distance, bolt after bolt coalesced into a familiar white and red costume. "What's the matter?" the figure mocked, "Can't you catch me? Maybe I ought to catch you."


	8. Spiders and Butterflies

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Eight: Spiders and Butterflies  
_

Hours later, the truck stopped at Louisiana State University. White Lightning handed Bart a pair of hundred dollar bills before he hopped out of the truck. "Here, use this to help get by. Take care, spitfire!"

Soon, the truck pulled away and left him alone on the college campus. He wandered around the grounds and oriented himself on the landscape. After asking a few tipsy students hanging out on the front porch of a house on the edge of campus, he got his directions towards Anita's street. After a near eternity walking along sidewalks under a dark sky, he found Anita's house. The lights were all off, but he approached the door and rung the doorbell anyways.

After ringing it a couple more times, the door finally opened to reveal a bedraggled Anita on the other side. Her purple eyes widened and she gasped when she saw her visitor. "Bart! What are you doing here?"

"I need help," he told her, "And you don't have a mentor who will snitch on me to Wally." Bart entered her house and plopped down on the couch. "Don't tell anyone I'm here, yet, okay?"

"That might be a little hard, mon," Anita warned, "Cassie and Cissie are here."

As if on cue, the two sleepy blonde girls appeared from the hallway. They stared at the wild-haired visitor. "_Bart?_"

Bart waved to them cheerfully. "Hiya."

"What's going on?" Anita sat beside him on the couch.

Cassie joined her, sitting on the other side of him. "Yeah, I thought you were going to stay home while that fake was running around."

Bart frowned and looked to his friends desperately. "Wally doesn't believe me and thinks I'm the one causing all the trouble, so he's gonna steal my speed. That's why I ran away. I don't want him to do that to me. But now I'm in even bigger trouble and I don't know how to fix it."

Anita tried to make sense of the deluge of words and sat down next to him on the couch. "Okay, what do you need help with?"

"Um..." He hadn't thought that far ahead. How could Anita help him? He knew that she could and that was all that had mattered until now.

She sighed, chuckled, and then shook her head. "Well, let's see what I can do. There's a fake running around as you and causing all this trouble? Do you know who he is or where he came from?"

Bart shook his head. "Nope. I don't know anything like that." He sat up and his golden eyes were wide. "Hey, d'ya think it's my evil clone?"

Anita grimaced and raised an eyebrow, "You have an evil clone?" When he nodded, she shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess everyone has an evil clone these days." Still, there was something about this whole situation that bothered her, particularly with Bart on the run. "Isn't the Flash your mentor?"

Bart shrugged, "Which one?"

"The younger one? Is the older one actually your mentor?"

He shrugged again. "Jay's nice to me and he trains me after school and on weekends, but he's not like Max."

"Max?" That name sounded familiar when it came to Impulse.

"Max Mercury. He's my mentor, but now he's gone," Bart answered, "Sure, he's a cranky old guy, but he actually cares. He... He gave me a chance. Jay kinda does, but not the same way. He's got a lot of other stuff to take care of. Wally... Me and Wally never really got along good. Sometimes we're okay, but it only lasts for a little while, and then it's like I'm the biggest screw-up that ever screwed up and he's yelling at me and I can't do anything right. If Max was here, he'd believe me that I'm not the one running around and screwing up, and he would help me catch the fake. He would have a plan and everything."

Cissie's eyes widened in alarm. "What happened to Max?"

"Wait... What?" Anita sorted through the blur of words and names, trying to piece everything together. Unfortunately, she wasn't keen on speedster trivia. "Who's who?"

"Max Mercury is my mentor," Bart repeated, this time intentionally slower. "Jay is the first Flash, and Wally is the third. Wally's my cousin."

"Okay, I think I get that part now, but I'm still confused. You said your mentor's gone. What happened?" The girls listened as Bart recounted Max's possession by Rival and subsequent disappearance. When he finished, Anita pursed her lips in thought. "Just possession? Is that all? Oh, Bart... Why didn't you tell me about this before? Why didn't you _say_ anything?"

Bart stared at her, and then gave a weak shrug. "I didn't think that you guys could help much. It's kinda a speedster thing."

"Bart, the moment it got into possession, it stopped being just a "speedster thing" and became something right up my alley."

He sat up and leaned towards her, hands on his knees. "You can help?"

She couldn't help but smile at his eager hope. "I think so. If you get Max to me, I can get Rival out."

"I don't know where Max is. Rival went into timestream. I don't even know when he is."

"Well, that makes it a little harder, but not impossible," she remarked, "I'll need to talk to the Loa. I won't be able to do it right this second, but once I get everything ready, I'll try to get some answers for you."

"Really? Thanks!" Bart squeezed her in an excited hug. "You're awesome!"

Anita pulled away, smiling. "No problem, Bart. I take it that you don't want anyone else to know you're here?"

"Not yet. If the Flash finds me, he'll just steal my speed. I won't be able to take on Rival without it." Leaning forward, he raised his thick eyebrows hopefully. "Can I stay here tonight?"

Anita chuckled and looked to the other girls, who nodded consent. "Sure, join the slumber party."

"We'll do your hair and everything," Cissie teased.

Cassie grinned and put her hands in the brown mop. "I'm thinking pigtails."

Some time later, Bart squirmed as Cissie put his hair up in a pair of pigtails. "This feels weird and you're taking _forever_."

"Almost done."

Cassie was looking at her cellphone after trying to call Robin. "Huh, I guess he's busy. I thought that night owl would still be up." Just then, her phone rang. "Oh, there he is. Hey, Rob. Look, I have an update for you."

"I have one for you, too." Robin's voice was more serious in tone than usual. "Bart's gone missing. Everyone's looking for him, but there's no trace. That doesn't bode well, considering the doppelganger. Speaking of, it turns out that Bart has a rock-solid alibi that cleared him."

"Really?"

"His foster-mother was with him when the fake was on the rampage," Robin informed.

"Bart's going to be happy to hear that he's been cleared."

There was a pause on the other side of the conversation. "Is it really him there?"

"I hope so. He came here looking for help on saving Max, his mentor. That doesn't strike me as much of a doppelganger thing."

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"He just showed up minutes ago," Cassie replied.

"So, you're sure that it's really him?"

Cassie looked to Bart, who was now trying to put Cissie's long hair in matching pigtails. The archer yelped, "Bart! Not like that! You're going to rip my hair out!"

"How do you do it, then?" Bart asked as he tugged at the elastics that held his hair in place. One of them slipped out and half of his hair fell back into its customary place.

"Hera, I wish I had my camera handy," Cassie muttered before answering to Robin, "Yeah, I think it's him. Of course, we've been fooled before."

"Don't let your guard down," Robin warned.

"I know." After hanging up, Cassie took Anita aside. "Is there anyway you can verify that he really is our Bart?" she asked in a whisper.

Anita thought about this for a moment. "He doesn't take well to my mind-control. It's really hit-and-miss with him. But... Yeah. Yeah, I think I can. You want this sooner than later?"

"Please."

Anita nodded and then disappeared from the room. Soon, she returned with a pair of scissors in her hands and approached Bart. "If I'm going to ask the Loa for you, I'm going to need something of you for them. Blood would be preferred, but hair would work. I only need a little bit."

"Okay. Are we gonna do it now?"

"Yeah, mon. Just don't move for a minute."

Bart held still just long enough for Anita to cut from his nape. "Got it," she told him. "I'll be back in a little while." With that, she entered the garage.

Remembering the last time Cassie saw one of Anita's rituals, she decided that it would be best to stay with Bart. Besides, she hadn't relayed the good news of his exoneration yet.

When Anita returned, she found all three guests watching the television. "Good news," she announced, "I got some clues on finding your mentor. I took notes on what I saw." She handed Bart a sheet of paper with hastily scribbled words.

Bart scanned the writing. "Old-style cars, Keystone Theater, "Bachelor's Affairs" showing... I don't get it. What is all this supposed to mean?"

"That's for you to figure out." Anita yawned. "I dunno about you all, but I'm ready to get some sleep. Cassie? You know that thing you were asking about? Verified yes, we got the real deal."

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back on the couch. "Thanks, Anita. Hey, before you hit the sack, do you have any markers or something like that? I want to tag our Bart, in case we end up dealing with a mix up."

"Markers?" Anita thought about this for a moment. "I don't know if I have anything that will stay on. Everything I have now is either the non-toxic, water soluble stuff or the kind you _don't_ put on skin if you can help it."

Cissie got up and found her backpack. "I might have just the thing. It's not markers, but it'll do the same job." From a folder, she pulled out a sheet with a couple of temporary transfer tattoos. "How about this?"

Cassie looked at the sheet. "Perfect!" She looked at the designs left on the sheet, a tribal rose and a tribal butterfly. Not exactly masculine designs, but there wasn't much of a choice. Besides, this was Bart. He wasn't as stuck on macho as Kon or even Robin was. "You already used one?"

Flipping up the back of her shirt, she turned around and showed off the tribal sunburst on her lower back. "I started out using these to try out different designs for the real thing, but I found that I kinda like changing them out. These sheet ones are cheaper than doing the airbrushed ones and they take a lot less time than henna."

"Cool." Cassie turned to Bart, "Well, it's not much a selection, but which one would you rather have?"

"The butterfly," he answered, "Are you going to put it on me?"

"That's the plan, sparky," Cissie answered on her way to heat up some water.

"Cool beans."

Cassie looked at the sheet and then to Bart again. "Where should we stick it? It might be a little hard to get to if we put it on his back, and then need to see it as proof. His costume doesn't exactly work like that."

Bart held out his forearms. "This is pretty easy to get to. You could put it on sideways, so it's all lengthwise. He held the underside of his forearm alongside the chosen design. "Like this. Would that work?"

Cassie nodded, "That'll work."

Anita yawned again. "I'll leave the rest to you all. Good night."

A short while later, Bart poked at the temporary tattoo on the underside of his forearm. Cissie put away the remaining design while she spoke, "It comes off with baby oil if you need to remove it before it wears off."

Cassie yawned and rubbed at her blurring eyes. "Okay, I can sleep a little easier now. If fact, that's what I'm going to do right now. Good night."

After she left the room, Cissie followed her. "Good night, Bart." She clicked off the lights as she passed them.

Bart stretched out on the couch and pulled the blanket that was draped over the back of it onto him. In the dim glow from the streetlights, he looked at the tribal butterfly on his arm and poked at it again. It felt weird on his skin.

The clock slowly ticked on and Bart could not sleep. He sat up and picked up the notes that Anita gave him. Nearby, her computer lay dormant. Glancing to the notes again, he got up and turned the machine on.

Under the glow from the monitor, he pulled up a search engine and stared at it. Now what? Normally, at this point in the game, someone would push him aside and take over on the information gathering. After all, he wasn't good at this sort of thing. He was told that over and over again. Glancing towards the hallway, he half expected one of the girls to come out and take over the investigation. When that didn't happen, he turned his focus back to the screen and the notes. He entered in the first clue and waited for the results page to load. Even high-speed internet was not fast enough. Wouldn't this be faster if he just raided the nearest library and read all of the books on every possible subject related to his search? How many books could he read in the time it took to load a webpage? He stared at the results page. This was going to be boring.

Hours later, the dawning twilight glowed softly and Bart smoothed out the page of notes that Anita gave him. He picked up a pen lying nearby and scribbled, "Keystone City, sometime after June 26, 1932." He looked down at the writing with satisfaction. He had an answer and he found it by himself. Almost, if he counted the head start Anita was able to get for him. Still, he was proud of this. Now all he needed was a way to go back in time and track down Rival. One that _worked_, that is. He recalled his less-than-stellar performances on the time treadmill that his grandfather built.

He looked to the door longingly. He wanted to go home now. How long had it been since he left? It felt like years. He wanted to see Helen and Dox again. His name was cleared now, so Wally wasn't going to try to hobble him, right? Everything was okay now, for the most part. There was still the fake to catch, but Wally was going to take care of that and he had the JLA on his side to help.

Picking up the pen one more time, he scrawled on the note page, "Went home. Thanks for everything. -- Bart"

The door clicked behind him and he unleashed the lightning he kept bottled in his veins. It felt so good to let loose that he oriented southward towards the gulf, just so he could rip the sound barrier a new one a few times over for fun without getting into much trouble.

He went supersonic over the waves, reveling in the sun rising faster over the horizon and the water feeling as solid as concrete under his feet. In the distance, he spotted a wall of water rising across his path. Was that the wake of another speedster? It sure looked like it. He curved his path to intercept the trailing edge of the wake and followed it over the sea. A speedster made this, Bart was sure of it now. Glancing down at the trail, he noticed something strange. There was more than one trail here. One that made the wake and a second following after it. Was Wally chasing the fake? Bart kicked up his speed, hoping to catch up.

He hit land and didn't slow in the slightest. Ahead, he could see the speedsters he tracked kicking up a dust storm. One was wearing the familiar white and red, the other a pattern of black and green. Bart's heart thumped in his chest and a chill coursed through his blood. Inertia was attacking the false Impulse. There was no slow motion between the two as they brutally fought.

The glint of metal in Inertia's hand caught Bart's attention and he strained to close the last steps between him and the interlocked battle. He heard Inertia snarl, "I am not _disposable_!" Reaching out, Bart tried to stop the black-clad arm's arc towards the red throat. A hot scarlet spray splattered across his face, shoulder, and arm.

Inertia let the false Impulse drop to the ground. He pulled his bloody mask off to see past the crimson mist that coated his goggles. Around the gruesome scene, the dust hung still in the air. Hard yellow eyes met the shock-widened gaze of his witness. A wicked, savage smile curled on his face and he reaffirmed his grip on the crude and bloody knife.


	9. Devil's Deal

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Nine: Devil's Deal  
_

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Inertia sneered.

Bart stared at the body of the impostor lying in a growing red pool. "You killed him!" He glared at the unmasked blond standing before him. "You _killed_ him!"

"He's just a clone sent to destroy you," Inertia remarked offhandedly, "I don't see why you're so upset." Seeing Bart's stance shift to an aggressive posture, Inertia rolled his eyes and threw his knife into the corpse, burying it to the handle. "Oh, please. I'm not here to kill you today. Today, it was all about _him_."

"Who is he?"

"Version 2.1." Seeing Bart's horrified confusion, Inertia added bitterly, "What? Did you think that our dear "Grandfather" Thawne would stop at just one clone? He likes to think big. He also isn't one for second chances. I succeeded in impersonating you, but failed to kill you. Let me put this in terms you can understand: Mission failed is _Game Over_."

Bart's thick eyebrows furrowed. "But-"

"Talk later," Inertia interrupted, "First, we dispose of this wretch. I'm not about to chance our DNA landing into the hands of another splice-happy megalomaniac and, from what I've learned about this time period, there are plenty here."

"But-"

"Go get some wood or other combustibles," ordered Inertia, "It's a crude method of disposal, but effective."

"But-"

"Fine. I'll do it myself." Inertia ran through the settling dust cloud, leaving Bart behind with the body.

Bart felt sick and lost and confused. He was too slow to stop Inertia. All he needed was another step to close the gap and the other clone would still be alive. Now what? Did he fight Inertia? Why did Inertia want to talk? That was unsettling. It wasn't expected. That wasn't how things worked. They were _supposed_ to fight. What was he supposed to do if Inertia didn't want to fight? Bart looked around and surveyed his surroundings, trying to get a bearing on his location and a distraction from the gore that lay nearby. This looked like badlands of some sort. There were no signs of civilization anywhere in sight. His gaze wandered back to the bloody body. It looked just like him, but dead. His stomach soured and his breath became shallow and rapid. This wasn't Apokolips, he tried to remind himself. He needed to go home. He needed to go get help. From whom? He wiped at his stinging, blurring eyes and swallowed against the bile.

Inertia returned with an armful of woody brush. Glancing to Bart, he scowled. "What's your problem? If it bothers you so much, help me build a bonfire and we'll make it go away."

Bart numbly nodded and ran off to gather as much dead scrub as he could. Soon, they had a pile to lay the body on and covered it with more brush. From somewhere unknown, Inertia brought a can of gasoline and a book of matches.

The fire crackled and Inertia wiped at the dried blood on his face. "I could use a bath." He looked to Bart, who was likewise soiled. "I said that we would talk. You can ask questions now."

Bart tore his wet eyes away from the flames. "Why did you kill him?"

"Why are you crying over it?" Inertia retorted, "He's just a clone."

"He was alive! You didn't have to kill him! You could have just stopped him!"

"And then what?" snarled Inertia, "Where would you put him? What would you do with him? Eventually, he would get out and finish his mission and that would be the end of you. We aren't playing games here, moron. The loser's run ends forever and there's no reset. You should be thanking me for doing the dirty, necessary work for you. You obviously have no chance of surviving, otherwise."

Bart wiped at his eyes and sniffed. "You didn't have to kill him."

Inertia crossed his arms and watched the fire with satisfaction. "You keep telling yourself that."

After his eyes dried enough that he could see clearly again and his chest stopped hitching, Bart glanced to Inertia. "There are more clones like you?"

"Not like me," he replied, "Supposedly, they are improved versions. I doubt that. Granted, that one's plan to discredit you in the eyes of your allies to the point that they would restrain you was inventive. Once you were restrained, it would have been child's play to finish you. But, he wasn't much for combat. I'm surprised, actually."

"So, why did you-?"

"Save your sorry hide? Simple, I didn't want him to succeed where I had failed. Schadenfreude, I suppose." Inertia shrugged at that, and then saw Bart's puzzled expression. "Go look it up, shortbus. And would you take those things out of your hair? You look ridiculous. I'm embarrassed to admit that I share genetic material with you."

Bart pulled the elastics out of his hair and shoved them into his pocket. "So, what are ya gonna do now?"

Inertia crossed his arms and frowned. "I'm not certain. I'll be candid here. Either I finish you or I depose President Thawne. You would be easier, but you never lied to me. As far as I can tell, nearly _everything_ I was told regarding about our family history and my development was a lie. Besides, if I killed you, Max... Did Max recover after I left?"

Bart nodded quietly, "Yeah, but-"

"But what?" Inertia icily snapped, "Don't tell me that you let something happen to him."

"I didn't!" Bart countered. He told Inertia about the Rival, the possession, and the disappearance. "And now I know where to start looking, but it's in the past and I don't know how to get there yet."

Inertia scowled and glared at him. "You are pathetic." His yellow eyes flicked to one side with a thought. He regarded his genetic original contemplatively. "I'm willing to make a deal with you. I help you take on this Rival fool and free Max in the past and you help me destroy President Thawne and his clone circus in the future."

Bart shifted anxiously on his feet. "I dunno."

"What are you afraid of? You know that we would be stronger against our common foes as allies instead of enemies. United we stand, divided we fall, isn't that right?"

"I guess so." He saw the edged gleam in Inertia's eyes, and felt like a rabbit under the scrutiny of a predator. "But... I dunno."

"I'm as much of a target as you are, now," Inertia assured, "I've been thrown away. I need your help and you need mine. I can get you into the past easily and I can run just as fast as you. You need me to capture Rival successfully."

Bart was still apprehensive. "If we do this, and then go into the future, can I go visit Mom first?"

"Of course."

"And no killing." He glanced to the still burning pyre.

"You won't have to, I swear." Inertia held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Uneasily, Bart accepted the offered hand. "Okay."

"I knew you had a functioning brain cell somewhere under all of that hair. Now, let's go home and clean up." He let go and darted away, leaving Bart to follow him all the way back to Manchester.

Helen felt a breeze from the kitchen and got up from the couch. Dox perked up his ears and then lowered them with a low growl. Seeing that, Helen moved with more caution towards the kitchen. What she saw there made her gasp.

"Bart! What happened to you? Who is this?"

The blond speedster raised his hand in greeting. "Hi, Helen. My real name is Thaddeus Thawne, although Inertia is probably more familiar to you."

Alarmed and confused, Helen looked to Bart, "What is going on?"

"He's gonna help save Max," Bart replied.

Helen approached the boys and stared at the stains on their clothes and skin. "Is that _blood_?"

Bart nodded, "Yeah."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah." His tone was flat.

Inertia spotted Dox standing in the kitchen doorway. His face brightened with a smile. "Ivan!"

Bart didn't follow what he was referring to. Helen, however, remembered. "His name is Dox."

"Dox? What kind of name is that?"

Bart answered with a hostile glare. "It's his name."

Inertia curled his lip and crossed his arms. "What did he do to deserve that?"

Helen spoke up, trying to head off a rebuttal from Bart. The last thing she wanted was a speedster fight in her kitchen. "Um, Thaddeus? Why don't you go take a shower first? Bart, could you help me find a spare change of clothes for him?"

Leaning over Bart's shoulder, she watched as Bart tried to decide what clothes he wanted to part with. She could hear the shower from behind the bathroom door just down the hall. "Bart, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No."

"That didn't exactly put me at ease," Helen muttered, "So, why is he helping?"

"We made a deal," Bart answered, "If he helps me, then I'll help him."

She picked up a black t-shirt and a pair of baggy black pants. She remembered that during the time the Inertia had spent masquerading as Bart in her house, he had been rather fond of that combination. A gust of wind blew through the room and the clothes that Helen had in her hand were gone. Bart's eyes were wide and he snapped around towards his bedroom door, where a freshly clothed Thaddeus stood. "Use a towel!"

"It's not like there's anything you haven't seen," Thaddeus replied flippantly, "We're near identical. The shower's free now." He looked to Helen, "Where should I put my suit?"

"Is it machine washable?"

"I don't know."

Helen took a steadying breath. "Well, it's not red and white, so it might be worth a shot. We could try the gentle cycle."

Bart stepped into the shower and let the warm water rinse the dried blood off his skin. Closing his eyes so he didn't have to see it run down the drain, he washed as quickly as he could. After he was dry and in fresh clothes, he found Thaddeus sitting on the couch with Dox. The dog's tail was wagging in anticipation of the treat that was in the boy's hand.

Seeing Thaddeus in civilian clothing and relaxed made Bart realize that he was just another person. He recalled White Lightning sitting on the bed and playing her guitar. She wasn't a bad person then. Then he remembered her heist and Inertia killing the impostor. Why did they do those things? What made them change from people to bad guys? What made them change back?

Thaddeus noticed Bart standing nearby and gave Dox the treat. "What are you looking at?"

"I've never seen you in normal clothes," Bart answered, "You look different."

"Heh, I suppose so," Thaddeus replied with a wry grin, "Were you expecting something else under the mask?"

Bart shook his head, "It's not that. You just look different." Dox hopped off of the couch and trotted to Bart, who kneeled down to pet him. "When are we gonna go into the past and save Max?"

"After I get some food and rest," he answered peevishly, "I'm not going to go into this underprepared. Getting out and chasing down that replacement drained a great deal of my resources." Dox returned to Thaddeus for more attention.

Bart approached the couch at sat down on the far side away from him. "How'd you know the difference anyways? Between me and the fake?"

"He had an active Craydl interface and you don't," was the succinct answer. Thaddeus closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the cushion. "We'll have to use the one I've taken to access the time portal. It will transport us forward in time first, and then I'll have to program in the correct space-time coordinates to the location of Max. You do have something I can work with for that?"

"Yup."

"Good." Thaddeus sat up and leaned forward to pet the dog at his feet. "We should expect some resistance at the portal. My escape should have been detected and they will be on alert. The worst-case scenario is that the portal will be completely shut down and the interfaces reset. I should be able to find a way around that, but it would be difficult." He rubbed at his face and sighed. "So many variables."

"We'll take care of it when we get there," Bart remarked.

Thaddeus blinked and held his head in his hands. "That's not reassuring."

"Just trying to help. What's wrong? Does your head hurt? When I'm thinking too hard, my head hurts, too."

The blond speedster shifted on the couch to lay his head on the armrest and closed his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Hey, Iner-, uh, Thad-, uh..."

"Thad will do."

"Okay. How many clones of me are there?"

"As many as Thawne wants. His only limitation is facilities. Should he progress beyond the development phase, then that wouldn't be an issue."

"Is he trying to make the Hyperguard?"

Thaddeus bolted upright and stared at Bart. "How do you know about that?"

"Um, time travel to the future, except it's a future that doesn't exist any more because we changed it," Bart answered.

"So, you saw the end product of Thawne's cloning project?"

"No, he had a hyper-ray built," Bart helpfully clarified, "There weren't any clones at all."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Thaddeus leaned back on the armrest. "It's a future that doesn't exist, so it's currently irrelevant and I'm not going to ask further on it, until I am fully coherent and capable of processing such insanity."

"Okay. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No."

Bart left the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. Since Helen was busy with laundry, he took it upon himself to prepare the meal. Eggs, cheese, sausages, pancake batter mix, milk, and other ingredients soon appeared on the counters. While a pan heated on the stove, he followed the instructions on the box for the pancakes, making sure not to mix the ingredients together too fast this time. He didn't want to clean the kitchen again. Not long after he had a stack of pale pancakes sitting on a plate, sausages sizzled and he played a handheld game while he waited. It usually took a couple of levels before the meat was cooked through.

Helen walked into the kitchen and helped herself to some coffee. She was pleased to see him progress beyond cereal and toast. On the counter, she spotted a plate piled with enough cooked breakfast sausage to feed four people. She briefly wondered how many eggs would be scrambled this morning. At least there wasn't a grease fire yet. Usually, Helen had to worry about the food not being cooked enough.

On the fingertips of both hands, Bart held the egg over the hot pan. Tongue poking out, he vibrated his hands and the shell of the egg. The white and yolk fell out and cooked on the sausage-greased surface. Pleased, Bart cracked open the shell to see how much of the egg was still inside. He dumped out the remaining egg white, no longer quite as satisfied.

Helen poked her head into the living room and saw Thaddeus fast asleep on the couch with Dox curled up nearby. Turning, she saw Bart attempt to empty an egg without cracking it open again. "Was Inertia the fake Impulse?"

"No, it was another clone," Bart answered as he opened the egg to check his success.

She gripped her cup and sucked in a breath. "There's _another_ clone?"

"There was. Inertia killed him." Bart's chest tightened and he swallowed. "It was really bad and I couldn't stop it. I was too slow, Helen. I just needed another step and I could have stopped it." His eyes were stinging now. "And I didn't know what to do and Inertia didn't want to fight me, so we talked, and there was the dead me, and I didn't know what to do, so I helped make a fire, 'cause we can't let anyone get the DNA and... and... Now we're gonna go save Max together and I don't get it, but I don't know what else to do."

Helen's jaw slackened and she glanced towards Thaddeus, just to make sure that he was still sleeping on the couch. Bart continued to speak and scramble eggs. "Empress is going to help save Max too. If we can get Max to her, she can get Rival out of him. And there's more clones of me, so we're gonna go into the future and stop the project, 'cause they're all gonna come after me and they might turn into the Hyperguard and that would be really bad. But that's after we save Max. Max comes first."

Reaching for her phone, Helen tried to make sense of everything Bart said. "I'm going to give Wally an update."

"Okay," Bart replied absently, "I should let Cassie know, too. She would be mad if she was looking for a fake and there wasn't one anymore."


	10. Before the Storm

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! - Chapter Ten: Before the Storm  
_

Wally peered at the sleeping Thaddeus Thawne from the kitchen doorway and frowned. He turned back to Helen and Bart. "I don't like this. _More_ clones? One of you is more than enough, Bart."

"Ha ha, funny," Bart remarked sourly.

Helen walked past them and approached Thaddeus. Shaking his shoulder, she spoke, "Hey, are you hungry?"

He stirred and opened sleepy yellow eyes. Seeing Helen, he grinned, "Yeah." He sat up and looked around the living room, somewhat confused. When he saw Wally and Bart standing near the kitchen doorway, his eyes widened and he stiffened as if he was splashed with icy water. He ran his hand through his hair and strode towards the kitchen. Stopping when Wally didn't move out of the way, he glared up at the Flash. "What are you looking at?"

"A killer," Wally replied, "You're not going anywhere alone with Bart."

"I did what needed to be done," Thaddeus retorted, "And you don't make decisions for Bart. We're going to save Max and we're going to end Thawne's pet project."

Wally crossed his arms. "And after you're done with Bart?"

"We go our separate ways. I have no intention of staying in this backwards, primitive time." He met the green-eyed glare and crossed his own arms to mirror Wally's posture.

"You're still not going anywhere alone with Bart," Wally insisted.

Thaddeus rolled his eyes. "Give me some credit. If I truly wanted Bart dead, I could have killed him a few times over by now. What would be the point of stringing him along, when I could have my redemption in the Thawne legacy so easily? Think about it."

Bart spoke up, "He's right, Wally. He could have killed me and Max a long time ago, but he didn't, and he could have killed me right after he killed the fake, but he didn't. I don't like that he killed the fake, either, but..." He shrugged and shifted on his feet, "I don't know what to do about it."

With a snort, Thaddeus chortled, "There's nothing to do about it! What's done is done. If I left him alive, then he would be targeting you in a last-ditch, desperate effort to complete his mission. I can assure you that his conditioning was an improvement over mine and he wouldn't stop short like I did. On top of that, I know he had no qualms about collateral damage. Helen, or Carol, for instance."

Now Helen shooed the speedsters into the kitchen. "We can continue this at the table."

They obliged and evacuated the doorway. Wally accepted a cup of coffee from Helen and sat down at the table. "Thanks." Then he looked to Thaddeus, "Still, killing isn't the answer."

"There's just no explaining this to you, is there?" he scowled as he waited for Bart to finish filling a plate. "Fine, whatever. What are you going to do with me? Try me, convict me, throw me in jail? I have no records here and neither did the other clone. We don't belong in the time and we don't even have recognition as people in our own time. And even if you did somehow manage to get your flawed legal system to prosecute me, what facilities do you have that can hold me?"

Sitting down with at the table with her plate, Helen interjected, "If you're not people, what are you?"

"Science projects," Thaddeus bitterly replied as he piled food onto his own plate. "There are _robots_ with more legal standing that I do. Here's the question: Can a dog be charged with murder? Answer: No, it just gets put down."

Around a mouthful of egg and sausage, Bart mused, "So, what does that make a robot dog?" Thoughts of an intelligent Robo-Dox played through his mind. Reminded of his own dog begging by his chair, Bart dropped a piece of sausage on the floor for Dox.

Raising an eyebrow, Thaddeus eyed Bart. "I have to wonder if I was lied to about being a clone. Moments like that would be better explained if I was the original and you were the copy. So much could be excused by a bad splice."

Bart frowned, "What? What'd I do?"

"And to think that there's an project with an entire phase dedicated to wiping you out," Thad sighed as he sat down at the table. "If President Thawne even knew _half_ of the things I do about you, he wouldn't even bother. Really, I don't see the threat."

Wally finally got his chance to help himself to some breakfast. "Maybe it's not about what Bart is now, but what he's going to become. Maybe Thawne knows a piece of history that you don't."

Thad glanced between Wally and Bart. "Maybe, but I doubt it."

Wally's phone barely had enough time to begin ringing before he silenced it and looked at the message. "Oh, come _on_." He scarfed his meal and stood. "I need to go spank a giant monkey. Don't go _anywhere_. I mean it, Bart. I'll be back later." He darted out the house.

Helen pulled her gaze away from the suddenly empty chair and looked at Thaddeus. "Are you really going to help save Max?"

"Yes! How many times will I have to say it?" He tensed his jaw and drew in a breath. "I suppose that question won't go away until I prove it." Looking to Bart across the table, he asked, "You said you had a time and location to find Max?"

"Keystone City, sometime after June 26, 1932," Bart answered. He chewed on the last bite of sausage thoughtfully. "Why would Rival go there?"

"Good question, but I don't have the information to answer that."

Helen sipped from her coffee cup and furrowed her brow. "How are you going to free Max from Rival once you find him?"

Bart brightened and sat up. "Empress said that if we brought Max to her, she would get Rival out!"

Helen's expression lifted with hope. "Really? That's wonderful!"

Thad picked up the empty plates and took them to the sink. "There's a catch to that. I doubt we can get Rival to come back to this time willingly. Not without hurting Max in the process. This Empress will have to come with us." He started washing the dishes, making short work of the job. "I suppose that Wally will get his condition met, after all. You won't be alone with me on this mission." He yawned, looking somewhat surprised about it afterwards. "I going to crash on the couch for a little while." He left the kitchen and stretched out on the couch.

Bart got up and looked at the calendar on the wall. "It's Sunday," he stated to himself, "Everyone's gonna be at church until this afternoon. That's gonna be forever." His shoulders slumped for a second, and then he straightened. "Kon's not!"

"Bart," Helen warned, "You're not supposed to go anywhere."

"Oh, yeah. That sucks!" He tapped his foot for lack of running. "I can't go save Max yet, I can't go out, my friends here are busy, and there's nothing to do!" He threw his arms up into the air in exasperation.

"What is that on your arm?" Helen asked.

Bart looked at the already frayed temporary tattoo on his forearm. "Oh, this? Wondergirl and Arrowette put this on me last night, so they could tell me apart from the fake Impulse if there was a mix-up." He shrugged, "I guess that's not a problem now, unless Inertia tries to pass as me again."

"I doubt he'll try that again," she remarked, "Besides, Carol and I know what to look for now." She picked up a notepad and pen from the counter and began writing down a list. "When Wally comes back, I'll run out and get some groceries. It's hard enough to feed one growing speedster, but two... My pantry will be cleaned out in no time."

Bart wandered back to his bedroom and picked up his phone. He called Superboy, hoping that he would have someone else to talk to for a little while. To his relief, Kon answered the phone in a sleepy tone of voice. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kon, it's Bart."

"Bart? What's up? Where are you?"

"I'm at home. The fake's dead."

There was a pause before Kon spoke again. "What? How?"

"Inertia killed him." When Kon didn't reply immediately, Bart added, "My clone. He posed as me for a while, remember?"

"Oh, him... Right. Wait, he did what?"

"He killed the fake, who was another clone. He's here now, 'cause he's gonna help me and Empress save Max. So, now I have to stay at home with him, 'cause the Flash-"

"What? He's with you? Wait... Do Cassie and Rob know about this?"

"I already called Cassie."

"And you're just chillin' with your evil clone who tried to kill you a while back? Bart... Just hang on; I'll be there in about an hour. Don't go anywhere!"

"Everyone keeps telling me that." After hanging up, he stepped out of his room.

Bart looked down the hall to the door of Max's bedroom. What would Max do about this whole situation? The door was closed, so if Bart hadn't known that Max was gone, he just would have assumed that Max was doing his freaky, lightning-eyes meditation thing again. He opened the door and stepped into the room. Daylight filtered through the blinds, but the room was cool and smelled slightly musty. No one had been in here for a while. Bart looked around, noticing that everything was exactly as Max left it. He sat down on the floor and drew his knees up to his chin.

Closing his eyes, he replayed that last time he and Max had encountered Inertia together. Max had told Bart later that he had offered to let Inertia stay with them. "What would you think of that, Bart?"

"I dunno. He's evil and stuff, right? Why would we let him stay here?"

Max raised a white eyebrow and looked at his ward over the rim of his coffee cup. "He was only the way he was because of his environment, not because of any choice that he made. While he was posing as you, he did a very good job as a hero. He has a lot of potential." Max set down the cup and leaned back in his chair. "How can I explain this? Do you remember those stunted trees along the coast that grew bent and slanted?"

"Yeah, they look weird."

"Well, those trees only grew like that because the wind was always blowing hard on them. But if you took those same trees when they were young and replanted them somewhere calmer, they would grow up tall and straight like normal trees." Seeing that Bart still didn't quite understand, he added, "You and Inertia are like those young trees. You were taken away sooner, so you aren't nearly as bent and twisted. But think of what would have happened to you if your Grandma Iris didn't take you away."

"I would have died," Bart answered bluntly.

"Well, let's say that the scientists had figured out a way to stop that," Max hypothesized, "What would have happened to you then? If you stayed with them?"

Bart frowned at that. This was more of that whole thinking thing and he didn't much like that. "I dunno."

Max's expression flattened. "You're not even trying on that one." He sighed, and then said, "According to your mother, your grandfather would have put you through a great deal of conditioning to make you into his pet weapon. In other words, Bart, you would have turned out much like Inertia did."

"Nuh-uh! I'm good!" he protested.

"Only because you were brought to a place where you were given the chance to be good. If Inertia was given the same opportunity, he could be good, too. Do you get it now?"

Bart shrugged, "Sorta."

Yellow eyes opened to the abandoned room. Dox stood in the doorway, wagging his tail. "Maybe Max was right," Bart told him. Dox perked up his ears and ventured further into the room. The boy rubbed his dog's head and smiled. "Wouldn't he be proud if we both rescued him?"

Popping his head into the living room again, he found that Thad was still asleep on the couch. How long was he going to lie there? Bart eyed his videogame console. He wanted to play, just to stay occupied with something for a while. Besides, he still had a boss battle to get to. He turned on the television and turned down the volume until it was barely audible. Looking to Thad, he saw that the other boy was still sleeping.

A few quests and a boss battle later, Dox perked up and a knock sounded from the door. Bart paused his game and opened the door to let Kon in. Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, Kon was dressed to blend in on the streets of Manchester. His black hair was messy and it was obvious that he hadn't shaved that morning.

"I landed a mile out and walked in," Kon remarked as he stepped into the house. He spotted the blond haired head resting on the couch. "Is that him?"

"Yup."

Helen stepped into the room and noticed the newest visitor. "Oh, you're... Kon, right?"

He nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Thought I'd drop by and help keep an eye on things. I know a few things about clones and evil doppelgangers."

Thad's voice drifted up from the couch. "And you're also noisy. You coming here to protect Bart from me is pointless. There's nothing you could do to stop me if I wanted to hurt him."

Kon sidled up next to the couch and put his hand on the cushioned arm. "Really?"

Thaddeus tried to sit up, but an invisible force held him down. Kon grinned broadly. "Tactile telekinesis."

Yellow eyes glared and a snarl twisted on Thaddeus's face. "You-!" Then he calmed and his eyes shifted to one side. "Actually, this could be useful."

Kon and Bart glanced to each other. Bart shrugged. Without letting go, Kon spoke, "Okay, that's not the usual answer I get. Normally, there's some yelling, a little verbal abuse, maybe even a bit of profanity to spice things up."

"Could you do this to a speedster at full run?" Thad asked.

Confused, Kon still didn't let Thaddeus go. "Why are you asking?"

"Because I don't think that a superspeed poltergeist is going to sit still while the Empress exorcises him," Thad explained. "Now, do you _mind_?"

Bart tapped Kon's arm and he obliged, taking his hand off of the couch. Thaddeus stood up and pointed to Kon. "You're coming with us."

Kon raised an eyebrow at that. "And where are you going?"

It was Bart who answered, "We're gonna go into the past and save Max! Empress is gonna help us, 'cause she knows about possessions." Bart looked up at Kon hopefully. "You're gonna come, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

Bart clenched his fists in a cheer. "Awesome!"

Thad found a pair of Bart's shoes and put them on. "I'm going to do some research on the time period. In the meanwhile, try stopping Bart at a full run with your telekinesis. If you can snare a speedster, this operation will be a lot easier." With that, Thad darted out of the house.

Kon looked to Bart and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I'm going to need a more in-depth recap, because I have no idea what I just walked into."

With the sun higher in the sky and her house quieter, Helen pulled the black and green costume out of the dryer. It seemed to have survived the cleaning process intact. She examined it closely for any damage that her machine may have done to it, but the wear on the suit seemed to be from use. The stains on it were gone, as far as she could tell. A breeze and footsteps heralded Wally's return.

"Where is Bart?" he asked, "I thought I told him to stay here."

"You did," Helen replied, "And I did. Superboy came by and now they're at the old testing grounds to try out a new move. There wasn't much I could do to stop them. I think they'll actually do it, Wally. They're all going to save Max."

"I hope so. I just wish they would hold up long enough for someone more experienced to guide them, instead of running into this at full tilt." Wally oriented towards the abandoned testing grounds. "I'm going to go check up on them."

Sure enough, he found the boys at the grounds. Superboy was kneeling along the side of the old access road and Impulse was priming himself for a run at one end of it. Wally stood back a distance to observe them.

Impulse's voice called out, "Ready?"

"Just go!" Kon answered.

A white and red streak blurred down the path, passing Superboy, and skidded to a stop. "Should I go slower?"

"Yeah, let's try that. I can work my way up from there." Kon wiped the sweat from his brow before touching the ground again. "I'm ready!"

Again, Impulse dashed down the weedy road, kicking dust up from his treads. This time, he was noticeably far slower. As he passed Kon, he jerked to a stop and nearly fell over. His arms windmilled wildly as he struggled to regain his balance. Both oversized feet were firmly stuck to the ground. Impulse struggled against the unseen grip, but could not free himself. "Hey, you got it this time!"

Kon let Bart go and sat down on the grass. "Finally! This is about as hard as catching arrows."

Bart stood next to him and braced his hands against his knees. "Wanna try again? Faster?"

"Just give me a second. I'm not sure I'm ready to try it above granny speed yet."

The Flash strode towards them. "I thought I told you to stay home, Bart."

"We can't do this in the house," Impulse replied, "And this is gonna help us catch Rival."

Kon muttered, "If I can get the timing down."

Wally raised an eyebrow under his mask. "Are you trying to grab just him in an instant?" When Kon nodded, he shook his head, "Good luck with that. Instead, can you grab a larger area all at once and hold it for a while? Like turning a piece of this road into flypaper? I can tell you from personal experience, that's really annoying to a speedster. Once he's slowed down enough that you can get a bead on him, then grab him."

Kon thought this over. "It's worth a shot. Bart, get back into place and I'll give you the signal when I'm ready. When you run, go at almost Mach."

Impulse nodded and zipped back to his starting position. Kneeling alongside the access road, Kon put his hands to the ground and concentrated. "Ready!"

A streak of white and red rocketed towards him. Suddenly, Impulse's steps faltered and slowed. Kon pounced on his chance and held the red boots firm to the ground. Impulse gave a token struggle until Kon let him go. Flopping back on the grass, Kon closed his eyes. "I am awesome."

The Flash crossed his arms and grinned. "That's something Superman can't do."

"I figure it's a fair trade," Kon mused, "I don't have supersenses, heat vision, or x-ray vision." He lifted his hands into the air and waggled his fingers, "But my tactile telekinesis doesn't let me down."

Impulse leaned over him. "Is that why you're always reminding us about it?"

"I could glue you to the ground again."

"Wanna try it at full speed?" Impulse taunted.

"You're on." Kon sat up and put his hands to the ground again. After a few seconds, he told Impulse, "Go."

The young speedster dashed away fast enough that the air popped when it rushed in to fill the vacancy he left behind. The white and red blur crackled across the grounds. He turned in the distance and raced towards Superboy's telekinetic trap. The boom of Impulse shattering the sound barrier followed him. He tore through the trap, steps faltering and slowing, but not enough for Kon to grab. Kon didn't let up on his trap and tried move it along the road to follow Impulse, hoping to slow him down enough to get another chance. Regardless, Impulse broke free and raced away.

Kon rubbed at his head and closed his eyes. "So close. I needed a stronger pull."

Impulse skidded to a stop next to him. "Wanna try again?"

His hand drifted down to his stubbled chin. "Maybe later. I need to take a break."

The Flash suddenly jerked as if startled. Green eyes focused away from the grounds for a few seconds. "Man, I haven't had a break _yet _this weekend. Call from the JLA. I'll be back later." He sprinted away, leaving the boys alone next to the old access road.

Impulse listened to his stomach grumble and crouched down beside Kon. "Want me to give you a tow back to my house? It'll be faster."

"A tow? Sure." Superboy free-floated into the air and took Impulse's hand. Using his telekinesis to reinforce his grip, he braced for the sudden acceleration. With a hard jerk, the landscape blurred by and the air roared around him. Tendrils of golden speed lightning trailed off of the metal parts of Impulse's suit. In the next instant, they were inside the garage of Helen's house. Bart quick-changed into his civilian clothing and they walked into the house proper.


	11. 1932

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! – Chapter Eleven: 1932_

Carol stepped into the kitchen while Bart and Kon finished their early lunch. Spotting the bespectacled girl unknown to him, Kon stood and held out his hand with an easy, appreciative smile. "Hi! I'm... Carl, Bart's cousin from Hawaii." Bart visibly bristled and took a step to place himself between Kon and Carol. In his mind's eye, he could see Kon flirting up a storm with Carol, and then Carol would giggle, and then... And then what?

Amused, Carol pressed a finger against the rim of her glasses and raised a dark eyebrow. "Otherwise known as Superboy?" Kon's jaw slackened and she chuckled. "Not many of Impulse's friends come to visit."

Kon sat down, somewhat relieved. "Oh, so you're in on the whole secret identity thing?"

"I figured it out a while ago," she answered, "What brings you out to Manchester?"

Bart piped up, "He's gonna help me rescue Max!"

Carol brightened and stepped closer to the speedster. "Really? You found out when Rival is?"

Nodding, Bart replied, "Yup! Empress helped with that! Now she's gonna help get Rival out of Max. Superboy and Inertia are gonna help too."

"Inertia?" Dumbfounded, Carol could only repeat, "_Inertia_?"

A voice answered behind her. "You called?"

Carol twisted around to face the blond boy. She took a step backwards and bumped into the table. "You're not going to hurt him!"

Thad's yellow eyes rolled again and he strode towards the refrigerator. "I'm getting tired of repeating that I have no intention to do so. If anything, I need Bart's help."

Bart added, "Remember the Hyperguard? Inertia needs my help to stop President Thawne from making it out of clones of me."

Carol held a hand over her mouth. "Oh, my God. Are you serious? How many times do we have to change future to keep the Hyperguard from happening?"

Now, it was Thad's turn to be confused. "You _know_ about the Hyperguard?" he asked Carol.

"It was my fault that it was created in the first place, but that's a long story."

Thad scrutinized her with a disbelieving stare, and then shook his head. "We don't have time for long stories." To Bart, he ordered, "Go bring the Empress here. I want to lay out the plan for getting to our destination."

Anita set her toddler mother on the floor to play. On the couch, Bonnie King-Jones and Ishido Maad watched the children crawl about. Ishido leaned back in the cushions and frowned, "Do you think they'll ever remember anything of their previous lives?"

Anita shrugged, "I don't know."

A breeze heralded Bart's arrival. "Hi, Anita! Hi, Agent Maad! Hi, Cissie's mom! Where's Cassie and Cissie?"

"Getting lunch," Anita answered, "What are you doing here? I thought you went home."

"I did, but it's a long story." Bart fidgeted, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Me and Kon and Inertia are gonna go save Max and you need to come with us to get Rival out of him."

"Now?"

"Yup."

Anita looked at her toddler parents and then to her adult guests. Bonnie moved to crouch next to the children. "We'll take care of them until you get back."

"Thanks." Anita turned to Bart, "Let me get ready."

It wasn't long before Bart was carrying Anita and her gear across the countryside to Manchester. Inside the house, Carol was arguing with Thad. "I'm coming whether you like it or not! I'm not leaving you alone with him!"

"I won't be alone with him!" Thad retorted, "And if I take any more people on this mission, the risk of our capture at the time portal increases beyond tolerance! Bart and I have a carrying capacity of one each! No more!" He turned to Bart and Anita. "This is the Empress, I presume?"

"Yup!" Bart answered. He looked to Anita and jerked his thumb towards Thad. "This is Inertia. He's my evil clone."

Thaddeus winced and facepalmed at that. "Yes, I am the evil clone," he affirmed through clenched teeth.

Anita tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "He's _blond_."

"There was some tweaking with the genetic sequence to correct some of Bart's defects. The hair color was incidental," Thaddeus explained, "I am the improved third-generation speedster." He sat down at the table and nested one fist into the other hand. "As to the task at hand, our window to travel to the thirtieth century, reset the chronoportal, and travel to 1932 will be very narrow. The Science Police will be on the lookout for me and they will put the chronoportal into lockdown the moment they figure out that their preferred clone isn't the one coming home. That means we move with as much speed as possible. All of us. Bart and I will carry one passenger each through this phase." His yellow eyes locked onto Carol, "That means you stay here. In any case, it's too dangerous for you."

Bart piped up, "Carol's pretty tough. She's already done time travel and kicked butt!"

"She's still an ordinary human," Thad retorted, "And we don't have the capacity in this mission. There is no discussion on this." He ignored the matched glares from Bart and Carol. "The next phase of the mission will be in locating and restraining Rival." He looked to Anita, "After the exorcism is complete, we will return to the chronoportal and reset it to send us back to this time. Max should be able to keep up with us." He stood up and pushed his hair away from his face.

"I still don't get why we have to follow _you_," Kon scowled, "Why are you bothering to help Bart when you tried to _kill_ him before?"

Yellow eyes narrowed and shifted to glare at Kon. "Max is why I'm helping. That he is too important to lose is why I'm leading. Bart lacks the capacity of forethought that is required in an operation like this."

Bart frowned with indignation. "Hey! I still beat all of your plans! I'm not stupid!"

"I'm still smarter than you and your victories had nothing to do with your intelligence," Thad stated. "We can argue about this later." He disappeared for a moment and returned in his black and green costume. Inertia held out a tiny disc that looked like it was made of green glass. "This is the Craydl interface that I took from the other clone. It will open the time portal for us. When we go through, an alarm will likely sound because of the excessive extra mass coming through." He slipped the disc behind his ear. "I will carry Empress. You will take Superboy."

Bart quickly changed into his own costume. He held out his hand to Kon. "Tow? You're kinda heavy to carry."

Inertia had Empress on his back. "Do not grab the earpieces under any circumstance," he warned her, "I don't know what the discharge that comes off of them will do to you."

Empress eyed the golden metal stylized to look like something between a lightning bolt and a wing. "Not handlebars. Right. Got it, mon."

Inertia clamped a hand on Impulse's shoulder. "Time jump in three... two... one..."

Impulse felt that familiar wrench of moving through the timestream and fought against closing his eyes. Time jumping always messed with his head. Soon, he was standing in a large room. The familiar, almost comforting scent of sterilized air wrapped around him. Just as predicted, alarms sounded. Inertia zipped to the control panel and punched in new coordinates. The portal hummed as it reset. A blast of air blew through the room when the doors opened and men in the armored uniforms of the Science Police poured in. With a flash of light, the time portal reopened and both boys dashed through with their passengers.

The scent of dust and water greeted Impulse's nose. He squeezed his eyes shut against the ache building up in his skull. Stars flickered and popped in the darkness. When he finally opened them again, the image of a barren field filled his yellow-tinted vision. He let go of Superboy's hand and regained his bearings.

"That's right," Inertia mused to himself, "Keystone City would be smaller in this time. I was aiming for the outskirts of town."

They could see the river that Keystone City grew along and a shantytown clustered on one edge. Empress frowned under her mask, "1932, right? The worst of the Great Depression, the last year of the Prohibition, and the beginning of the Dust Bowl. Why would anyone want to come here? There's not even many metas to help in this time."

"Not even Jay Garrick?" Impulse mused, "No Flash?"

Inertia approached the riverbank. "According to the historical records, not for a few more years."

Impulse perked up. "What about Max? He was in running around in the forties."

"I don't know," Inertia absently answered. "Now we must track down Rival before he realizes that we're here."

"Empress saw a theater when she did her voodoo thing," Impulse supplied helpfully. "We can start there!"

"Yeah, like we're gonna blend in," Kon remarked, gesturing to the costumes that the others wore. He looked at the street clothes he and Anita were still wearing, "I don't even know if this will pass for this time." He aimed a blue-eyed stare at Inertia, "So, what are we gonna do about that, genius?"

Inertia scowled. "Wait here." He zipped away, kicking up dust in his wake.

Impulse poked his boot at a drift of dust piled against an old, weathered fencepost. "It's kinda dirty here," he idly remarked.

Empress watched him move the dust around. "It's 1932, right? You heard of the Dust Bowl?" When Bart and Kon shook their heads, she added, "Between severe drought and overfarming, the conditions were right for huge dust storms. Oklahoma was the worst hit, if I remember right. Just think, the worst of it is yet to come." She looked at the tenement camp and sighed. "And after that, it's World War Two."

Inertia soon returned with arms full of clothing. To Anita, he gave a navy blue skirt, a white blouse, and a pair of stout heeled shoes. She eyed them warily. "Where did you get these?"

"No one will miss them," Inertia assured her as he handed a heavy canvas work jacket to Kon. "They weren't taken from anyone who needs them."

He handed Impulse a short-sleeved work shirt, a pair of work pants, and a pair of boots. They were all obviously never worn. He quick changed into a pair of trousers, a sport shirt, and a pair of oxford shoes. "There, we should blend in a little easier." He eyed Bart's wild hair and Anita's long wavy locks. "Though as far as hairstyles go, we're a little anachronistic." His gleaming thoughtful expression advertised that he was considering fixing that. Bart wrapped his arms over his head in protective protest.

"I think we can deal with that, mon." Anita changed as quickly as she could behind a tree and stuffed her discarded clothing into the bag she carried the rest of her gear in. Rejoining the boys, she walked towards Keystone City. "Finding that theater shouldn't be too hard."

Thad quickened his stride just enough to put him in the lead. "Until we encounter Rival, do not use your metahuman abilities under any circumstance."

Kon frowned and remarked, "Don't spook the locals. Yeah, I think we can figure that one out for ourselves. We don't all ride the short bus."

"I was more concerned about Bart," Thad added.

"Hey! I know how not to use my powers!" Bart protested.

Thad muttered under his breath "That's obvious."

As they walked the streets of Keystone, Kon noticed the flitting, fearful glances and outright hostile stares from the populace. "Maybe we're not blending enough?"

Thad murmured in return, "Their focus appears to be on Empress. Her hair is too anachronistic."

Anita was watching the locals. "I don't think that's it's anything we can change."

Bart looked at his friends and then at all of the people cautiously watching them. He could not see anything too different, certainly nothing that was of any importance. "What is it?"

Chuckling, Anita ruffled his hair. "Oh, mon, don't you ever change." She saw the puzzled expressions on Kon and Thad. "You too? You don't see it either?" The boys glanced uneasily to each other and shook their heads.

Thad was the most displeased about his supposed ignorance and crossed his arms. "Enlighten us."

"We're in the black part of the town," she pointed out, "And here I am, surrounded by an escort of strapping white boys. It doesn't look good for this time and place. That I'm unknown here, that I'm comfortable around all of you, and that there's three of you is probably why nobody's decided to do anything about it yet."

Kon facepalmed and muttered, "I forgot about that. It's not going to get any better in the other part of town, either."

Bart and Thad exchanged confused glances. The blond boy shook his head. "I don't understand."

"I don't either," Bart added in.

"It's not supposed to make sense," Anita assured them, "But it's good to know that it goes away in the future. C'mon, mon, let's go find your friend."

After a while of wandering, they finally reached downtown Keystone and found the theater. Just as Anita's vision revealed, "A Bachelor's Affair" was listed on the marquee.

Kon shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the movie title. "So, now what?" He wandered a little closer to the movie posters. He didn't recognize any of the titles.

"We wait," Thad answered. "If Empress is correct, then he will be here eventually."

Anita yawned and stretched before joining her teammates and admiring the posters. "I wonder how long this movie was listed on the board? That's how long this could take."

Kon stared at her in alarm. "What?" He sighed and his broad shoulders slumped. "Great." He planted a hand on top of Bart's head. "The things I do for my friends." Bart beamed a bright smile at him.

While the others were looking at posters, Thad kept his eyes on the people on the street. Rival could show up at any time. A group of teenaged boys approached the theater from the cafe across the street and paused in front of the posters.

"Anything look good?" one asked.

"It doesn't matter to me," another replied.

"Jay?"

A brown haired youth peered at one poster. "We haven't seen this one yet and it's playing in a few minutes."

"Works for me."

Bart glanced towards the group and did a double take at one who answered to the name of Jay. His jaw dropped and his heart kicked up a gear in his chest. When the local boys paid and entered the theater, Bart frantically whispered to his friends. "That was him! That was Jay! _Jay_! Flash Jay! Oh my god, he was _our_ age! I mean, the age we look, not the age we really are. I almost didn't recognize him, but I'm sure that was him!"

Kon and Anita were still turning their heads to look at him. Thad blasted a sigh in exasperation. "Try it again for the slow people," he admonished, "Slowly."

With an embarrassed grin, Bart took a steadying breath and spoke at a speed that Kon and Anita would be able to understand. "That was Jay, the first Flash." Yellow eyes widened with realization. "Rival wants to kill him!" Before anyone could say anything, Bart added, "Rival is Jay's enemy! So, that would be why he would come to this time period, 'cause Jay doesn't have any powers yet! He's just a normal kid! We gotta help Jay!"

He turned to approach the theater doors, but Thad put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on him. I'm just as fast as you and Jay doesn't know me in future."

"No spoilers, mon," Anita remarked with a grin. Then she stepped forward and added, "I'll help. If Rival really is here for Jay, then I should be close by to exorcise him when we get the chance."

Thad nodded in agreement. "Superboy and Bart will stay out here and keep watch, in case Rival shows up." He turned to the other boys. "Do you understand that? Sit and stay."

Kon scowled and crossed his arms. "We're not stupid. We got it."

Anita looked at the theater doors. "So, how are we going to get in? We don't have any money."

Smirking, Thad replied, "You don't need a door when you're with me. Come this way." He and Anita turned the street corner and disappeared out of sight.

Kon slid down the theater wall and sat on the sidewalk. "This is great. A stakeout in the Great Depression." He sighed and leaned his head against the wall. "I don't like him. He's a bossy jerk."

"Inertia?" Bart asked as he joined Kon on the sidewalk. "Yeah, but he's helping. He's doing more than Wally or Jay ever did to save Max." He perked up with a grin. "Hey, d'ya think that he'll be good now? That would be cool."

"I hope so," Kon answered, "I got a feeling that I don't want to ever have to fight him. Your powers with Rob's brains and a villain's bad morals? If I hadn't learned how to hold you down from all of this, we could pretty much be screwed."

"He's not that tough." Bart stretched his legs out on the cement and let the warm rays of the sun beat down on them. "Y'know, it might be kinda cool if he stayed with me and Helen in Manchester. I wouldn't be alone anymore."

That caught Kon's interest and he lifted his head off of the wall. "Alone? When are you alone?"

"Not _alone_ alone," Bart clarified, "Just not with anyone like me. Someone who's not slow all of the time. You guys are cool, but it takes forever for you to say or do anything and I have to wait for everything. It was awesome when my cousin Jenni was visiting. She could keep up with me. I miss that."

"Huh, I had no idea. Learn something new every day." Kon leaned against the bricks. "Speaking of, what's the deal with you and that Carol chick? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

Rubbing at his warming face, Bart shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe."

"Maybe? Well, I gotta admit, the thought of you being, y'know, interested in girls is something I gotta get used to." Kon quirked an eyebrow at his own phrasing and hoped that Bart wouldn't notice. "But I guess you had to catch up sometime. She's a bit nerdy-looking, but still smokin' hot. I wouldn't have guessed that you would go for the short-skirt-long-jacket naughty scientist type, but whatever floats your boat."

Bart was staring blankly at him. Floating in a boat with Carol? Been there, done that. He was trying to imagine Carol in a short skirt and a long lab coat. It wasn't difficult at all. He couldn't understand what the big deal was about it. Kon was weird sometimes.

Kon was still talking, "Maybe it's the whole raised in a test tube thing? Oedipal complex for lab-rats?"

"I wasn't raised in a test tube," Bart corrected.

"Virtual reality tube, then." Sitting up a little taller, he asked, "Does she know how old you _really_ are?"

"Carol? Yeah, she knows everything."

"And she's okay with it?"

Bart was confused by this question. "What's the big deal?"

"Dude, we should be finger-painting and eating paste right now," Kon reminded, "Not dating hot girls and thinking about getting it on."

"Getting what on?"

"Okay, maybe I'm just a little farther ahead in development than you are, but you get my point, right? It's like she's freaking robbin' the cradle. Not that I'll ever point it out to any girl I might want to go out with, though. I'm old enough where it counts. Besides, I've dated girls older than Cassie. Seriously, I was the jailbait."

Yellow eyes stared at Kon. Bart visualized himself in an armchair with a notepad, while Kon stretched out on a couch. "If it wasn't a problem before, why's it a problem now?"

"I don't know." Kon thumped the back of his head on the brick wall. "Maybe I just have issues. We're not officially teammates anymore, so it's not like I'm fishing off of the company pier and setting up for some obligatory teen-angst drama. Maybe I'm just worried about what's going to go wrong."

Bart rolled his eyes and let an exasperated sigh blast. "You're thinking too much. Stop it. Cassie knows all about how old you really are already. Carol told me that she didn't try going out with me earlier because she thought that I wasn't mature enough in the head for it. If Cassie thought the same way, she wouldn't have gone out with you. She would have just talked to you the same way she talks to me."

"Like an obnoxious little brother?" Movement on the street caught his eye, "Well, thanks for the session, Dr. Impulse, but we need to cut this short. Is that our guy?"

Bart's heart skipped a beat and he stood. It looked like Max stepping into the cafe across the street. "Yeah. I think that's him. He's not younger like Max should be in this time. I'm gonna go tell Inertia. Keep watching him for me, okay?" He darted around the corner and into the alley behind the theater, where he vibrated through the wall. It was dark on the other side, save for the light from the projected film. Staggering through the theater, he managed to find Thaddeus and Anita sitting behind Jay and his friends.

"Rival's outside," he whispered just loud enough for Thaddeus and Anita to hear.

They stood and filed out of the theater. Kon was nowhere to be seen. Bart pointed to the cafe. "Rival went in there."

"Take Empress to the spot we landed at," Thad ordered, "Then come back here. We'll use that point as our trap. I'll stay here and watch for Superboy."

Bart obeyed the order, returning as soon as he could. It meant violating the no powers agreement, but now was not the time to take things slowly. He ducked behind a car that was parked near the cafe. Through the windows, he could see Rival drinking a cup of coffee. Kon was sitting at a table beside the window, watching him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he waved to Kon, hoping that he would see the signal. After a couple of attempts, Kon stepped out of the cafe and approached the car. "Go to where we landed," Bart relayed, "Empress is waiting there. Me and Inertia will chase him there."

Kon silently nodded and continued to casually walk down the street. He turned a corner and Bart could only assume that he flew the rest of the way. He peeked around the car and saw Thaddeus standing on the corner on the other side of the cafe. Now, they just had to wait.

It seemed like forever before Rival got up and left the cafe. Just then, the doors of the theater opened and some of the theater crowd exited onto the sidewalk. Crouching, Bart primed his muscles for a sudden burst of speed. The lightning in his blood hummed with his pulse. The street scene was still with birds and dust hanging in the air. In one way, Bart was happy to see Max again. He just wanted to race up and pounce him with the biggest hug ever. Knowing that it was Rival beneath that familiar skin killed that urge. He watched Rival stride down the street towards the theater. The tension in his legs turned to an ache and then to agony as he waited for Thaddeus to signal the chase.

After a near eternity, Thaddeus gave the signal and Bart burst forward. Rival's head turned to look at him and the surprise on his face unmistakable. His fists clenched and he grinned, ready for a fight. Bart's eyes widened; this was unexpected, but he did not slow his steps. Thaddeus joined him on the rush, filling his peripheral vision. Rival's expression twisted to confusion. He turned and fled. Impulse and Inertia followed close to his heels and drove Rival towards Superboy's trap. Rival could not dare to turn if they did not want him to, or he would be within their arm's reach. It was not long before they were past the limits of Keystone City.

The chase ended abruptly when they ran into the telekinetic trap and Superboy locked down Rival. Rival fought against the invisible bonds, but could not get free. The costumed Empress began the ritual to evict unwanted tenant of Max's body.

The boys understood nothing in her chants and did not want to know what the foul smelling water in the bowl she held really was. She spat on Rival and splashed him with the contents of the bowl. Nothing seemed to happen. She turned to Bart. "I thought you said he was possessed!"

"He is!" Bart affirmed.

"Whatever is in there isn't the standard-issue spirit," Empress retorted, "My ritual isn't doing anything!"

Bart noticed that Thaddeus seemed panicked now and could hear the desperation in his voice when he asked Empress, "Isn't there anything else you can do?"

Empress shook her head. "I have no idea what I'm really dealing with, mon."

Bart didn't like this. Superboy couldn't hold Rival down forever and Thaddeus was paralyzed without any sort of plan. It was time for Impulse to do what he was good at and save the day. "We have to get him to Doc Morlo! Can you knock him out for a while?" he asked Empress.

She thought about this, and then nodded. Thaddeus darted to Bart's side. "What are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything," Bart replied, "We just can't stay here and Morlo might be able to help us." A dull thud alerted him that Rival had fallen limp onto the ground. "Kon, grab him and make sure that he don't move. He's gonna be real mad when he wakes up." Kon sighed and cringed, but did as Bart asked of him.

Thaddeus played with the Craydl interface with a frown growing on his face. "_Grife_. This one is already locked out. We can't use it to get out of here." He shook his head. "It's going to take a while for me to override it. _If_ I can override it from here."

Empress sucked in a breath. "How are we going to get him back to our time if you can't?"

Bart recalled the last time Rival escaped from him. "Rival came to this time in a chronopod from the sixty-fourth century. We can use that. We can't leave it laying around here, anyways."

Thaddeus could not disguise his surprise. "Another long story?"

"Yeah, that's how Carol was able to come home," Bart remarked. "Too bad we don't have a tricorder or a sonic screwdriver or something that can help us track down where he put the pod."

Empress crossed her arms and muttered, "If I had known about that, I could have compelled him to tell us _before_ I put him to sleep."

Kon muttered, "This is going south fast. So much for the evil genius."

Thaddeus snapped at him, "I did not have all of the information I needed! If I _knew_ Rival's true nature, I would have anticipated this! If I _knew_ that he came here in a chronopod, I would have tried to trace its location! A plan is only as good as the information used to build it!"

Bart was not listening to the tirade. Instead, an idea coalesced and sparked in an instant, flooding him with epiphany. "I know how to find it!" A glowing duplicate popped into existence beside him. To the scout, he ordered, "When I tell you run, go back to the moment Rival escaped in the chronopod and hitch a ride. Then come back here and tell me where it landed. Don't let anyone see you, okay? Got it?"

The scout saluted and affirmed, "Got it, boss!"

"Don't call me boss," Bart muttered. "Run!"

The scout blinked out of their time, leaving Bart to wait impatiently. "They always take so long."

Thaddeus's yellow eyes were wide, making it seem like he was doing the impression of a startled cat. "What was that?"

Bart paused his tapping foot. "What was what?"

"There were two of you." Thaddeus circled around Bart. "What was that?"

"Oh, the scout? That's another long story." Just as he finished his sentence, the scout reappeared next to him. After reabsorbing the duplicate, Impulse blurted, "I know where it is!"

He led the way to the woods along a creek, where the chronopod laid waiting.

Empress sighed and rubbed at her face through her mask. "Mon, if you could do this, why did you bother with asking me where Rival went to?"

"I didn't think of it before," Bart answered as he opened the pod door and peered inside. "It wasn't easy for the scout to hang onto the pod. I couldn't do it, but the scout is made of different stuff and he can move through the timestream by himself, so he would be okay if he fell off. He had to hide in the ground, so that Rival wouldn't see him when he came out, too."

Kon peeked into the pod over Bart's shoulder. "That's going to be uncomfortable. This looks like it's supposed to be a two-seater."

Empress pushed past Bart and Kon and climbed inside. "I don't care if it's going to be a little cozy in here, as long as it gets us home. I don't want to find out if I'm my own grandmere."

It was a very tight fit inside of the chronopod. Bart could feel his ribs interlocking with Thad's and the pressure of every breath either one of them took. Kon was trying to ignore that he was in a very tight embrace with an unconscious man. Empress was trying to ignore Kon's rear in her face.

Bart tried to remember how Carol worked the controls the last time he was in the pod. "We shoulda brought Carol! She's the one who knew how to pilot this!"

"There's no room for Carol in here!" Thad snapped back.

After finally entering a set of coordinates in space and time, Bart hit one last button and the pod popped out of 1932.


	12. Into the Storm

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! – Chapter Twelve: Into the Storm_

Empress teleported out of the chronopod once it safely landed in Bart's backyard. Lifting up her mask, she gulped in fresh air as if she had narrowly escaped drowning. Bart and Thad vibrated out of the pod, landing with ungraceful thumps on the grass. The pod door opened and Kon flew out with the still unconscious Rival in his arms. As soon as Empress could speak, she snarled, "I don't care which one of you did it! Could you seriously not hold it for ten seconds?!"

"That was _foul_," Thaddeus remarked sourly, "Though we would have been here already, if Bart hadn't missed a decimal point in the time coordinates."

"I couldn't hit it!" defended Bart, "Your arm was in the way!"

Kon landed on the yard and ducked an irate hummingbird. "Hey! I'm still holding onto a sleeping possessed gasbag, here."

Bart stood and brushed off his pants. "We gotta get him to Doctor Morlo." In an instant, he was back in his Impulse costume. "I'll take you there."

Taking Bart's cue, Thaddeus donned his costume as Inertia. "Tow him and I'll carry Empress."

A rush of wind rustled papers and glassware rattled and tinkled against each other. Lifting his safety goggles, Doctor Morlo stared at the crowd that suddenly appeared in his lab. "What's this? Impulse? Is that Max?"

"Kinda," Impulse replied, "Rival's still possessing him."

Empress added in, "He's not a run of the mill spirit."

Morlo looked to the other teens. "And who are they?" he asked Impulse.

"Inertia, Superboy, and Empress," he answered. "We need to get Rival out and put Max back in."

Twisting towards Impulse, Empress repeated, "Put Max back in? You mean he's not already in there?"

Impulse shook his head. "He's in the Speed Force, 'cause Rival kicked him out of his body from there."

"Oh, mon, it's a good thing the exorcism didn't work. That could have been some bad news for your mentor."

"If Rival possessed Max's body and banished Max into the Speed Force, then what if we brought Rival to Max?" Inertia asked, "Could Max retake his own body in a manner similar to how Rival took it?"

Impulse's eyebrows raised behind the yellow goggle lenses. "Take Rival into the Speed Force? Can we do that?"

"I've taken Max in there before to help him reconnect with it," Inertia reminded, "We could do it again. I'll need your help with it, since he has so much more mass this time around."

"Yeah! We can do it!" Impulse bounced on the balls of his feet, giddy with hope and excitement.

Morlo cleared his throat and added, "You'll have to be perfectly synchronized to succeed. Any misstep and the storms could rip all of you apart." He led the way to another part of the lab that was very familiar to the speedsters. "We'll do a few practice runs first to make sure you can do it together."

With deft fingers, Morlo activated the training simulator. The speedsters entered the large transparent ball they were to run in. Kon stared at it and grinned. "Is that a giant hamster ball? They're running in a giant hamster ball?" He snickered at the thought. "We so needed one of those in the old HQ for the Imp." He raised his eyebrows at another thought. "We probably could have turned it into a backup generator."

Rival began to stir and Empress used her powers to convince him that it was not time to wake up yet. "Just turn over and give yourself another five minutes."

Morlo gave the speedsters the signal to begin running. The ball turned faster and faster as they ran. The display meter turned towards the ball told them their speed and vibratory rates. They raced against each other, spinning the ball faster and faster.

Their shoulders jostled, their leading legs entwined, and then they crashed. The ball was still spinning at a blinding pace, turning them into a multicolored, circular blur to the onlookers. The centrifugal force pasted them against the wall even when they were upside down. When the ball finally stopped, the speedsters were sprawled out on the bottom. Inertia swallowed against the bile that had forced its way up his throat. Impulse squeezed his eyes shut. The world was still spinning. He really hated spinning. He hated nausea even more.

Kon's laughter managed to reach their ears. "I should have brought a camera! That was _epic_ fail!" He was still laughing when they finally staggered to their feet. Inertia pressed his hand against the ball's wall with a rude gesture.

Impulse planted his hands against his knees and breathed heavily. Morlo frantically opened the hatch. "Not in there! Don't get sick in there! Get out! Get out!" He hauled Impulse out by the nape and shoved a trashcan under his face.

Bent over the bin, Impulse regained mastery over his gut. Kon patted his back. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Impulse replied with a nod. "I think so."

Inertia was sitting outside of the ball with his head hanging between his bent knees. "Let's not repeat that." He lifted his head and glared at Impulse. "What were you doing?"

"Running." Impulse straightened up and Kon pulled the trashcan away.

"We're supposed to be synchronized," Inertia harshly reminded, "Not just running however you feel like."

Brushing off his uniform, Impulse approached the hatch to the ball. "So, let's try it again. We'll figure it out."

After a half dozen failed attempts, the speedsters staggered out of the ball and took a breather to nurse sore shins and violated equilibrium. Morlo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "This isn't working."

Inertia thumped his head against a support beam in frustration. "We're missing something. There's no system to this. It needs structure."

"This is harder than the race tournament in Hawk and Swift," Impulse remarked. "And that had to be won in order to get to the bonus maps in the game."

Inertia's yellow eyes snapped open in epiphany. "That's it! Structure! System!" He took Impulse by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "This is all just a game. Match my steps exactly to get the points and boosts you need to finish the race. Don't think. I'll take care of everything else."

They climbed back into the ball and Morlo secured the hatch. The speedsters started out at a modest speed for them, their steps in complete unison. Inertia gently pushed the pace up and Impulse kept step. Lightning crackled around them and Inertia looked at the meter display. "Almost there," he reported to Impulse. He focused on running faster and Impulse focused on matching him. Sweat beaded on their skin and the lightning ripped around them. Morlo signaled them to a stop and they gradually slowed down.

When they finally climbed out of the ball, Morlo grinned. "Looks like you two can do it, after all. Now for the hard part: Carrying your payload." He spread out a few pages of hastily sketched diagrams. "The dangerous conditions inside the storms and the limited nature of your protective auras mean that you have very few options of carrying him. You have to keep him very close to you, so a stretcher may not work. A two-arm carry may be the best way, though running like that will be difficult."

"We could do another practice run," Inertia suggested, "Superboy is close to Max's mass and he's invulnerable."

Impulse grinned and nodded, "Yeah, so if we drop him, he won't get hurt!"

Kon stiffened and took a step back. "Waitasec... You want me to get in the giant hamster ball with you?" When they nodded, he sighed and muttered "Yay me." Inertia treated him to a wicked grin. Frowning, Kon pointed a warding finger. "You better not drop me just for kicks."

Putting on his best "innocent Bart" expression, Inertia replied, "Why would I do that? That would be mean."

Kon grimaced at that. "And that's just creepy."

Once they were inside the ball, they lifted Kon in a two-arm carry between them and began to run. Just as before, Inertia set the pace and Impulse focused on matching him. It was an awkward run and it took longer than before to gain speed. Despite that, Impulse and Inertia managed to stay synchronized.

Inertia saw the display read almost at the goal point where Morlo would shut down the run and grinned. He let go of Kon, hopped to one side, and kept running. Kon and Bart crashed down and were pasted against the transparent wall, spinning at a sickening rate. With an extra burst of speed, Inertia kicked the ball faster, and then vibrated out of it. Crossing his arms and laughing, he watched Kon and Bart spin around in the ball.

When it finally came to a stop, Kon and Bart crawled out of the ball. Inertia leaned over Kon. "You're right, that was hilarious. I should have brought a camera."

Impulse pulled the trashcan towards him and draped over it. "No more spinning," he moaned, "I hate spinning."

Kon laid face down on the floor and groaned. "He's helping, you said. He'll be good now, you said. He's an evil _jerk_!"

Morlo sighed and rubbed at his aching brow. "At least I know you two can manage to carry the weight and run at the same time. It's a good thing Max didn't see you goofing off like that."

The grin evaporated off of Inertia's face and he looked down at the floor. "So, are we ready for the real run?"

"As soon as Impulse gets back up," Morlo answered.

"I hate spinning," Impulse weakly repeated into the trashcan. He pushed himself up onto his feet and swayed from side to side with closed eyes. "I'm getting better. Really." Soon, he stopped and opened his eyes. "Okay, I'm ready."

Inertia strode towards the sleeping Rival. To Empress, he asked, "How long will he stay unconscious?"

"Hard to say," she replied, "So, you should move fast. I don't think you want him waking up while you're running."

Impulse and Inertia picked up Rival and carried him towards the shuttered portal to the vortex. After making a few last adjustments, Morlo opened the portal into the speed force. When he gave the signal, the boys ran again. Lightning crackled around them, growing in intensity as they ran closer. With a flash of light, the lab disappeared and they were in the lethal storms that dominated most of the Speed Force. Neither boy faltered in his pace. They navigated towards the raging storms, smelling the seared air and tasting scorched metal. In the distance, a point of light shone like a guiding star. As they ran, it grew larger and larger.

Rival moved in their arms and suddenly each boy had a muscular arm locked around their necks. He squeezed, choking the both of them. They stopped running and let go. Each one vibrated out of his grip. Without a word or warning, they lashed out at him. Impulse struck high with his fist and Inertia struck low with a leg sweep. Rival did not stay down. His first and most savage strike landed on Inertia, knocking the boy to the edge of the storm.

Inertia shook his head to clear it and looked up to see Impulse fighting Rival with everything he had. _'How typical for Bart to not even realize that he is just being toyed with.'_ Rival was grinning throughout the fight, enjoying every blow he landed on the boy. Impulse never stayed down for long and Inertia smirked. This would give him the time he needed to get a better vantage point. He knew how to adjust his vibrational frequencies to stay stable in the shifting storms. Rival and Impulse were too busy to remember that and they slid closer to the whirling energies.

Impulse was knocked down again and he rolled out of the way before getting stomped on. The moment he had his feet under him again, he saw Inertia slam into Rival and push him towards the light. Impulse called on all of his speed and strength and added to the push. Rival grabbed each of their heads and smashed them into each other.

Impulse felt his knees buckle and Inertia collapse beside him. They were so close now! Impulse refused to let Rival get away. Even though he couldn't see straight, even though stars were popping in his eyes, he slammed his shoulder into Rival and knocked him down again. Grabbing Rival by the shirt, he dragged the man closer to the light. A stray bolt of lightning arced in front of him and the searing heat stole the breath from his lungs. Impulse gasped and blindly faltered. Inertia grabbed Rival's legs and continued to drag him towards the light.

Feeling the heat and fury of the storms pull him away, Impulse began to run in a desperate attempt to regain his footing. Inertia and Rival were drifting farther away far too fast. If he was lost here, he realized, he would be lost forever. He could feel the hum of the storms in his bones and let his flesh hum along with it. What felt like running through mud evaporated and he zoomed in on Rival. Leveraging all of his momentum, he slammed his fist against Rival's head. Over and over he struck, not letting up for a moment. Inertia stepped back and waited for the right moment to put in the finishing blow.

With Rival out cold, the two boys picked him up again and carried him the rest of the way through the storm. Impulse took the lead, letting the hum of the storms guide him. Inertia followed him, matching him step for step, frequency by frequency. They held onto each other and their cargo, not letting the storms overwhelm them, no matter how hard it tore at them.

After what felt like eons, they arrived at the swirling light that was the core. Rival awoke and screamed in protest as the light reached out and enveloped him. In a blink, it pulled him in. Impulse and Inertia looked to each other and grinned. They did it!

They stood at the edge of the core and stared into the light, waiting for any sign of Max. All around them, the storms raged and howled. A shadow formed in the light and approached. The boys pressed their hands against the invisible barrier that protected the core from the ravages outside.

"Max!" they called out to the shadow.

He formed and approached them with a smile. "Good job, boys. I'm very, _very_ proud of you. Both of you." They smiled in return, but that faded with his next words. "I can't go home yet. There's still something I need to do here. Listen to me carefully. I want you to promise me something. Will you do it?" Impulse and Inertia nodded, still pressing against the barrier.

Max leaned towards them to make sure that they could hear him over the storms. "Take care of each other."

With a blinding flash of light, Impulse and Inertia found themselves standing in Morlo's lab. Thad sucked in a steadying breath and looked to Bart. "What are we going to tell Helen?"


	13. In Between

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! – Chapter Thirteen: In Between_

Bart's alarm clock did not make it through its first beep before he shut it off. Hopping off of the loft, he approached the guest room door and peeked in. Thad was fast asleep on top of the bed, still fully dressed in his borrowed civilian clothing. Helen was already out the door by the time Bart finished with the bathroom. That meant that she had an early appointment drilling into someone's teeth. That also meant that he was on his own for breakfast. Glancing at the guest room door again, he decided against waking Thad.

Just as Bart served up his breakfast, Carol knocked on the door. "Is he still here?" she asked when she came in.

"Inertia? Yeah." Bart pointed down the hall. "He's still sleeping. We beat Rival, but we didn't get Max back. He's kinda not happy about that. Neither am I, but Max said he still had stuff to do in the Speed Force, so I'm sure he'll come back on his own."

Carol glanced down the hall, before following Bart into the kitchen. The aroma of his bacon and cheese omelette was enticing and she wished that she hadn't settled on toast. Her eyes widened with surprise when he offered her his ready plate. "Here," he grinned, "I got enough stuff to make another." He started heating up the pan again. "Putting milk into the eggs helps a lot with it," he remarked off-handedly, "And Helen said that you can put almost anything you want into an omelette. But we don't have too much stuff that I want to put in it right now. We have cheese and bacon and that tastes good with eggs. Helen made one with avocados before and that was good too."

"So, how long is he staying here?" Carol asked as she put her fork into the omelette.

Shrugging, Bart answered, "Thad said that he doesn't want to stay in this time period. He doesn't like it here. It's too primitive, he says. He didn't say when he was going to leave, either." He shrugged again. "I guess he really doesn't know."

Carol took another bite of the omelette. "You know, Bart, I should come over here for breakfast more often now. Maybe that can pay back for all of the toast you kept eating at my place."

"Yeah, you can come over for breakfast whenever you want."

"Just don't tell the guys about it," Carol warned, "They'll want in on it, too. Before you know it, you'll be cooking for the entire crew."

Bart thought about that for a moment, imagining all of his friends crammed around his kitchen table. "Yeah, I don't think we got enough food for them all."

"So, what is Max doing in the Speed Force?" Carol asked.

"I dunno. He didn't say. It's probably really important, though." Bart felt a little unsettled by that. He wished Max had said more about it. Whenever Max paid a lot of attention to the Speed Force, bad things for speedsters usually followed after. "If it was so important that he decided to _stay_ inside of the Speed Force, instead of come home... Maybe I should tell Wally and Jay about it. Maybe they already know something." Another possibility dawned on him. "What if that's why they weren't doing much to help Max in the first place?" His vision tunneled on the skillet he was cooking with and he clenched his jaw. "Why didn't they tell me? Why do I always have to be left in the dark?"

Thad's voice broke in, "Because you're an idiot." He sauntered to the table and sat down. "You would just brainlessly jump in and do the stupidest thing possible."

Bart glared at his blond clone. "I'm not making breakfast for you."

Thad rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself." He glanced towards Carol. "Why are you here?"

"It's Monday," she answered, "We're going to school after this. By the way, Bart, did you get your math homework done?"

"My what?" His yellow eyes widened and he cringed. "_Grife_! I forgot!" He darted out of kitchen and reappeared at the table with his backpack. In an instant, his textbook, notebook, and paper were scattered on the tabletop. His pencil became a blur in his hand as he raced through the problems. Once he was done, he returned to the stove to attend to his breakfast.

Thad peered at the warm page. "You did the second, seventh, and twelfth problems wrong."

Bart fumed over the skillet. Carol put the homework page into the textbook and closed it. "Seven and twelve are hard and we'll probably be going over them in class, anyways. It's not bad if he gets just a few problems wrong. The teacher just wants us to get our homework done. Our grades depend more on the tests." Then she grinned, "Besides, he did all of that without a calculator."

"The calculator is too slow," Bart complained, "I have to hold the buttons down too long to get it the numbers in, and then it takes too long for the answer to show up on the screen."

"My dad had a slide rule," Carol recalled, "It's still somewhere in the house. I don't really know how to use it, but it could be really useful to you. I'll try to remember to look for it tonight."

Thad frowned at another gap in his knowledge. "What's a slide rule?" he asked in unison with Bart. He glared at Bart for echoing him.

Carol thought for a moment to choose her words accurately. "A mechanical analog calculator. You'll have to see it to know what I mean. But there's no buttons to push and no screen to wait on." She took her empty plate to the sink and rinsed it off. Bart served up his omelette and sat at the table to quickly devour it. After shoving his books back into his bag, he joined Carol on the walk to school.

Soon, Thad found himself alone in the house. Under the table, Dox laid and wagged his tail. After a breakfast of cereal and toast, he cleaned the kitchen and fed the dog. He looked at the clock on the microwave. It would be hours before Bart returned from school. "Now what?" he asked himself. There was nothing for him to do. After a while, he decided to tidy up the house. That always made Helen happy. He cleaned the bathroom and then ventured into Helen's bathroom to clean it, too. He turned on the television and vegetated on the couch for a whole ten minutes. He needed to go for a run. Perhaps he could even do a patrol? That would at least make the run useful. He dug his uniform out of the bottom of a dresser drawer in the guest room. The green zigzag pattern on the black was his, but it didn't feel right for a patrol. Inertia wasn't a hero, after all. Inertia was a trained attack dog. He clenched the fabric in his fists. Dox stood in the doorway and panted loudly, breaking the buildup of seething rage. Thad held out his hand and petted the dog when he approached. After shoving the costume into the bottom of the drawer again, Thad stood and paced the short length of the small room. "Now what?" He needed to do something useful.

Bart and his friends gathered on a picnic table and benches under the trees at one end of the schoolyard. The lunch break was halfway through and everyone had finished eating, leaving them a little leisure time. Rolly and Wade were engaged in a collectible card game with Eddie and Preston watching. Mike and Ayana were busy trying to finish up a homework assignment for their next class. Carol and Bart were working on homework they had just received.

Preston glanced away from the card game to look at a group of girls that were strolling by. Behind them, at the water fountain, he spotted someone very familiar. "Hey! It's Impulse!"

Everyone glanced at the brown-haired boy in the white and red costume, who was blithely refreshing himself at the fountain. In an eyeblink, he was gone. Bart's jaw hung open. "Wh-what?"

Carol nudged him with her elbow. "Stay quiet," she whispered to him. How would he ever manage to keep his secret without her?

In class, Bart stared out the window, wondering if the Impulse he saw was Inertia or another clone. The clock could not move fast enough to count down to the end of the school day. As soon as the last bell rang, he ran home at a normal pace. There were just too many people around for him to go any faster. Someone would be bound to notice him disappearing into a blur.

The house was empty, except for Dox. Bart dropped his backpack and jacket on the floor. Just before he opened his ring, the other Impulse appeared before him. The costumed boy lifted his mask and pushed his over his head, demonstrating that the brown mop of hair was just part of a cowl. Shorter blond hair appeared along with a familiar face. "I thought that this could help you keep your already frayed secret identity," Thad remarked, "It took a little while to make this costume, but I think it incorporates a rather elegant solution to our different hair colors without resorting to dye."

"What were you doing?!" Bart stared at the costume. Was Thad trying to make him look bad?

"Running a few patrols," he answered, "I didn't have much else to do." He tugged at the costume. "I'm going to take a shower."

Bart watched Thad enter the bathroom, still confused by the choice of costume. Dox barked at the front door, reminding him that it was time for a walk.

Later in the evening, Bart finished his homework and Thad flipped through the television channels. Dox perked up at the sound of Helen's car pulling into the garage. He hopped off of the couch to wait for her at the kitchen door. Soon, she called out, "Boys, would you help me put away the groceries?" Twin whirlwinds blew around her while the refrigerator and pantry opened and closed. Before she could put down her purse, the groceries were all put away. She set down the take and bake pizza she held onto the counter and set the oven to preheat. The boys immediately moved to inspect the choice of pizza toppings.

Helen grinned at the scene. "Thad? Should I get you enrolled in school?"

He turned around with a frown. "What? No! I have no intentions of staying here any longer than I need to. I don't belong here. As soon as I have a viable plan put together, I'm going back to my time and ending the Hyperguard project."

"And after that?" asked Helen.

"Get President Thawne out of power," Thad answered, "Ensure that he won't be able to start any more of his pet projects."

"You might want to work with your mother on that one," Helen advised.

"_My_ mother?" Thad frowned at that. "I don't have a mother."

"Your genes are Bart's genes," she reminded, "So, half of you comes from Meloni. She's just as much your mother as she is Bart's." Thad seemed uncomfortable with the idea and opted to open a bottle of juice, instead of answering. Helen continued to speak, "The only reason why she hasn't deposed him yet is because there are worse forces waiting for her father to fall. She's between a rock and a hard place. Before you do anything rash, you should talk to her."

Bart grinned. "Yeah! We should visit Mom first! Maybe she can help us stop the Hyperguard too. She's awesome like that. She's like a superhero without any powers! She's like Batman!" He reconsidered that last statement. "Except really, really nice and a girl." He thought about it a little more. "And she uses guns." His grin fell as he remembered how much he missed her. Catching himself, his bright smile renewed. "She's awesome!"

Helen grinned at Bart's enthusiasm. Still speaking to Thad, she said, "So, after you take down President Thawne, then what?"

He glanced askance at her. "What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do with your life?" Helen set her cup on the table and folded her hands around it.

Bart heard the oven click to signal the end of preheating. He put the pizza in the oven and set the timer. "If you're going to stay in the future, maybe you can join the Legion?"

"The Legion?" Thad repeated, "What's that?"

Bart stared at Thad in disbelief. "You don't know about the Legion of Superheroes? Our cousin Jenni's in it! I tried to get in, but they wouldn't let me. Which is okay, since I got to be in Young Justice, but that's technically gone now."

"More teams?" Thad didn't seem very thrilled about that.

Helen raised an eyebrow and looked at Bart. "Technically gone? What does that mean?" Then a sly smile spread on her lips. "Well, it does make me feel better when I know that you're not out there alone. I had been a little worried about that since your team was shut down. I would prefer that there was an adult with you, but..." She bit her lower lip, debating with herself. "Don't tell Wally this, but if the Justice League was so concerned about you kids, they would be training you themselves. Teaching you kids how to function as a team, based on the lessons they have already learned."

"Yeah, and then Wally would rip on me for every little thing I did," Bart grumbled, "I wouldn't do _anything_ right, and then he'd just send me off to train with Jay."

Thad just walked out of the kitchen and to the guest room. The door clicked softly shut behind him. Bart zipped to the hall and stared at the closed door. He could hear the old bedframe creak and then there was silence. Dox trotted to sit beside Bart's ankle. When Bart returned to the kitchen, he checked on the pizza. He knew it wouldn't be done yet, but he had to check anyways. "What's up with him?"

"Maybe he's just tired. You should leave him alone for a little bit."

Bart decided to go back to his videogame to pass the time. Many experience points later, he heard the oven timer ding and shut the game off. Getting up from the floor, he strode down the hall and paused at the guest room door. It was still quiet. Did Inertia sneak out? Was he still there? Bart knocked on the door before opening it. It was dark in the room and Bart had to give his eyes a moment to adjust. Thad was curled up on the bed with his back to the door. "Food's almost ready," he announced. Thad did not move. Warily, Bart approached the bed. "You awake?"

"Yes," Thad replied, "I heard you."

"You okay?"

Thad's tone was harsh and sharp. "I'm fine."

"Okay, just checking." Bart backed out of the room and retreated to the kitchen.

Thad soon joined Helen and Bart at the table and loaded his plate with the rest of the pizza. "We should leave tonight. I'm not going to work on any strategies until I have some input from..." He paused at the foreign word, "...Mom. Since we have the chronopod, we don't have to rely on the Craydl interface."

"But it's Monday!" Bart reminded, "I have school tomorrow!"

"We're traveling through time, moron," countered Thad, "We can return later tonight, no matter how long it takes."

"Thad, no name-calling," Helen rebuked, "You're better than that."

He scowled and continued to eat his pizza. After a couple of slices, he spoke again. "So, are you coming with me?"

Bart looked up from his plate. "To visit Mom? Yeah, sure." Then he remembered, "But we can't let President Thawne or the Science Police spot us. Mom made a deal to protect the rest of the family and I'm supposed to stay in this time period."

"And I'm up for immediate termination due to insubordination and desertion," Thad dryly added, "I think I understand the importance of stealth in this mission."

"Cool beans." Bart continued to munch on his pizza. His thick eyebrows furrowed together and Thad waited to hear what was grinding through his head. Finally, Bart spoke, "Why are we going back to take on President Thawne when you said you took centuries to develop? Wouldn't that, y'know, stop you from existing?"

Thad's brow rose in pleasant surprise. "Well, you _do_ have two brain cells to rub together, after all. Tell me, how long, subjectively speaking, did you spend connected to virtual reality?"

Bart shrugged and answered around a mouthful, "I dunno. Years. Grandma told me when I was physically eight, I had already spent nineteen subjective years in there, because that's how fast I could process everything."

"That's how I took centuries to develop," Thad pointed out, "It was subjective time. That my chronological age matches my subjective age is yet another lie I was told. That became obvious the moment I stepped out of the Craydl facility in my own time." He snorted and picked a slice of pepperoni off of the pizza. Holding it up for investigation, he continued speaking. "I should have realized that President Thawne wouldn't have the patience or the guarantee of resources for a project with such a supposedly long lifespan. He certainly didn't wait for you to leave or mature before he started the project. As far as I can tell, he created me shortly after getting possession of you. Chronologically, I really am the age I look or very close to it." He popped the pepperoni into his mouth. "What I don't understand is why I was released prior to full maturation. An adult me against an adolescent you would certainly end in my expedient victory." He shook his head and picked off another slice of pepperoni. "This entire endeavor makes no sense."

Bart pointed to the last slice of pizza on Thad's plate. "Are y'gonna eat that?" Thad sighed and slid the plate towards him. With a grin, Bart took the slice. "Thanks!"

Now that his plate was empty, Thad returned to the guest room. Opening the dresser drawer, he pulled his black and green costume out from the bottom. He scowled at the colors. "Reverse Impulse," he muttered bitterly, "Was that the _best_ he could come up with? Hidebound dolt."

He donned the costume and strode out of the room. Pausing at the doorway to Max's bedroom, he looked inside. "Come back soon."

As soon as Bart spotted Inertia entering the kitchen, he changed into his Impulse gear. "We're gonna go visit Mom now," he told Helen.

"Make sure you come back in time for school tomorrow," she replied. Standing, she gave Impulse a quick hug. "Be careful." Then she did the same to Inertia. "You, too."

Inertia tensed at her touch at first, but let himself relax. He remembered this warmth and didn't realize how much he missed it until that moment. Impulse dashed into the garage, where the chronopod was waiting. Inertia followed him, pausing at the door to glance back at Helen. After making sure that Impulse wasn't watching, he darted back to her and gave her a quick hug of his own. In an instant, he vanished into the garage.

Impulse was already entering in the space-time coordinates when Inertia joined him in the little pod. After quickly checking over the settings, Inertia made a few adjustments, and then nodded in approval. "There. We shouldn't be noticed when we land."

"Awesome! Let's go!" Impulse punched the last button and the pod popped into another time and place.


	14. Back to the Future

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! Chapter Fourteen: Back to the Future_

The pod popped into the thirty-first century deep in the Himalayan Mountains. The tiny valley that sheltered them was void of any sign of civilization. Inertia stepped out of the pod and nodded at the steep granite slopes that surrounded them with approval. "These mountains should have partially obscured our energy signature coming in," he remarked, "The Science Police will be looking for chronal discharges."

"Time travel is illegal here, right?" Impulse recalled, "The Russells got in trouble because of it."

Inertia nodded in affirmation. "The Science Police may also be on the alert for our own energy signatures when we access the Speed Force. So, we must use it sparingly until we reach the laboratory."

Impulse sighed at that. "So, how are we gonna get out of here? It's gonna take forever to walk anywhere."

"We use the pod to travel strictly in space," answered Inertia. "Where does your mother live? She is on planet, correct?"

"Yeah, she's on Earth, but I don't know where." Impulse kicked a stray rock.

It was Inertia's turn to sigh. "Metropolis will be the best starting point. If she's been staying near her father, it would make sense that she would be in the Earthgov capital with him."

A few minutes later, the pod popped into a wilderness refuge on the outskirts of Metropolis. The hike into the city took far longer than Impulse liked, but if it meant that the Science Police would leave him alone, he would tolerate it for the time being. As soon as they entered the park that adjoined the refuge, Impulse jogged to the nearest group of people. The elderly folk practicing tai chi under the shade of sprawling trees did not pause their coordinated exercises when he approached.

"Excuse me," Impulse started, "I'm looking for my mom."

The nearest white-haired woman paused and stared at the boy. In Interlac, she spoke, "Pardon?"

"Oh, right! Interlac!" Impulse switched languages and tried again. "I'm looking for my mom. Can you help?"

"Don't you have an omnicom?" the woman asked.

Inertia approached and replied, "Our bags were lost on the way here. Do you have an omnicom we can borrow?"

The woman nodded and broke from the group to open her bag. Producing the handheld unit, she offered it to Inertia. "Here you go."

It took a little while for Impulse and Inertia to track down Meloni Thawne. She was living in Tokyo again. They hiked back to the pod and popped onto the roof of the building that she lived in. Vibrating through the roof access door, the navigated through the building until they came to Meloni's apartment number. When the door chime and knocking failed to produce an answer, they slipped through the door.

"Mom!" Impulse called out in Interlac, "Are you home?"

The open floorplan was spacious and sparsely furnished. A ginger housecat hopped onto the kitchen counter that overlooked the dining area. Impulse reached his hand out to the cat and let it sniff his hand. "Have you seen my mom?"

Inertia approached the windows that looked out on the cityscape. "It looks different than it did in the simulation."

"That's 'cause it's real," Impulse replied, "The simulations don't have as much stuff in them. The textures and smells are missing too." Impulse stroked the cat's fur and felt its purr through his fingertips. "There are some smells I could have gone without learning about."

Inertia smirked at that. "Considering the state of your bedroom when I started impersonating you, you adjusted to them quickly."

"It wasn't that bad," Impulse defended.

"Do you want to know where I found your underwear?" Inertia retorted, "And the _food_? I'm amazed that you only had rats in a cage."

"It wasn't that bad," Impulse repeated.

"It was disgusting."

The sound of a door down the hall sliding open brought the conversation to a halt. Both boys turned to see Meloni enter the room. Her chestnut brown hair was damp and she wore a bathrobe of pale orange with a pattern of white flowers curling along the hem. "Bart? What are you doing here?" Before she could blink, Bart was wrapped around her in a hug.

Meloni stared at the blond boy standing before her. "Who are you?"

"Thaddeus Thawne, codenamed Inertia," he answered while slipping his goggles off of his face, "I'm a clone of Bart that President Thawne created to enact vengeance on the Allen bloodline, specifically by impersonating and destroying Bart. It didn't go according to plan."

"A clone?" echoed Meloni. "Are you sure? You don't look quite right to be a clone."

Thad sighed at that and dutifully explained, "There were modifications to the genetic sequence to correct some of Bart's defects. The hair color was incidental."

Brown eyes flicked from side to side as Meloni thought. "So, my father made a blond boy to pose as one with brown hair?" She tilted her head and frowned. "That's odd."

Bart looked up at his mother and let her go. "So, how are we gonna stop President Thawne?"

"_President_ Thawne?" Meloni shook her head. "My father left office a couple of months ago. Jeanne Chu is the President of Earth, now."

Bart and Thad looked at each other in confusion. "Are you sure we got the right time coordinates?" Bart asked.

"This is the time I left, yes," Thad answered. "So, if he's not the Earthgov President now, where is he?"

At that, Meloni shrugged and shook her head again. "I don't know. He just disappeared." Her lips pursed together in thought. "What I do know is that he wasn't happy about leaving office. Jeanne Chu ousted him after working so closely under him for all of these years. I wouldn't be surprised if she picked up where he left off." She glanced to Thad and sighed. "I thought I was finally free of him. I was hoping to bring Bart home in a week. But if my father's still stuck on his schemes, then it's still not safe here."

Bart surveyed the apartment that his mother called home. Could he call it home, too? It looked like there was plenty of space here. He quickly explored the layout and spotted a bedroom that was definitely furnished for a thirty-first-century teenaged boy. Near the bed sat a holo of Meloni and Don, smiling at him. He approached the image and picked it up. He had no memory of his father. He had never seen him or heard his voice. For most of his life, he could have said the same about his mother.

"Would you leave Manchester?" Thad asked from the doorway.

Bart spun around to look at him. He glanced down at the picture again. "I... I don't know. What about Helen and Carol and all of my friends? What about Grandma Iris? She's still in the past, too. What about Max? What if he comes back, but I'm not there anymore?" He pressed a button and a part of the wall turned transparent. The glowing cityscape and its towering buildings cast its light into the room. "Manchester's my home. And even if I stay here, the Legion doesn't want me. Well, when it finally forms, it won't."

"Who said you had to be a superhero?" Thad flopped down onto the bed and closed his eyes, savoring the comfort.

Meloni peeked into the room and smiled. "Do you like it?"

Bart turned around to face his mother. "What?"

"Do you like it here? I've waited so long for this." She smiled, "The best thing about time travel is that it's not that long for you. I'll still get to see you grow up."

Bart sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's great, but I'll have to leave everything behind."

Meloni joined him and ruffled his hair. "I know, sunshine, but this is where you were born."

Thad shifted to the other edge of the bed to give himself a little more space. "There is another option and I think I know where Bart gets the majority of his genes from if you haven't seen it, either."

"And what's that?" Meloni asked over her shoulder.

"You go to the past for a few years," Thad answered, "If all you're interested in is watching him grow." He frowned and stared at the ceiling. "I don't understand why you would want to waste your time in doing so. "Watching paint dry" is the appropriate metaphor."

Bart thought about that for a second. "Y'know, I don't think that was what she was talking about. I think she meant that she actually wanted to act like a mom. Like doing all of the stuff that Helen does for us." He did not notice his mother flinching at his words.

"Oh, well, that's certainly more involved," admitted Thad. He yawned and closed his eyes. This bed was far more comfortable than any other he knew and it begged to be slept on.

"I don't belong in the past," Meloni told the boys, "My English is bad and it's so _primitive_ there. Besides, I don't want to impose on Max and Helen for that long. They weren't very thrilled about it the last time I came to visit."

Resting his elbows on his knees, Bart sighed. "Max is in the Speed Force now, so it's just us and Helen right now."

"Oh, I see." Meloni shifted to look at Thad. "And what about you? I'll have to upgrade my living quarters to add an extra room to take both of you, but that's not hard to do."

Thad frowned at her with suspicion. "You don't know me. Why would you take me in?"

"I do have a little responsibility for you," she answered, "And I would rather have you with me than with my father. I can imagine what sort of plans he has for you and I won't let him use you like that. We were lucky that Iris helped Bart escape and now that you're out, that's all the better."

Bart was obviously thinking hard about something. When it finally clicked for him, he asked, "What about the other clones? Can they stay here, too?"

Meloni stared at her son in alarm. "The other clones?"

"Yeah," Bart replied, "President Thawne made a bunch more and he's gonna make them into the Hyperguard and we gotta stop him before he does that. You remember what happened the last time he made the Hyperguard, right?"

Meloni shook her head, still trying to process everything her son said. "I haven't heard of the Hyperguard, sunshine, but it does sound like something my father would come up with."

"There was a hyperray, remember? And Carol had be taken out of the timeline, so she couldn't come to the thirty-first century and do the research that made the hyperray, so you took her to the sixty-third century. But then my scouts saved Max and Helen, so that timeline wouldn't happen and Carol didn't need to be sent away, so we brought her back home and you helped! You don't remember?" Bart's hands were moving in a blurry frenzy as they illustrated the narrative.

Shaking her head again, Meloni answered, "Sorry, sunshine. You said that it was a timeline that wouldn't happen? I'm guessing that the me that helped you was from that other timeline. She never existed here, so I don't remember any of that."

"Oh."

Thad rolled his eyes and snorted. "I can't believe you had to be told that."

Bart scowled at him. "Jerk."

"Retard," Thad shot back.

Meloni stood up and pushed her drying hair away from her face. "I'm going to go get dressed. If you're hungry, help yourself to the kitchen."

Soon, she returned to the main room to find Bart foraging through her kitchen for food and Thad using her omnicom to gather information. "If you're looking for my father and where he would hide a clone laboratory, try Metropolis."

"I know where the lab is," Thad replied, "I'm trying to learn more about this time. There are gaps in my knowledge base concerning it. It was intentional, I'm sure. Ignorance is easier to control."

Turning towards the kitchen, Meloni strode towards the blur that was Bart. "Sunshine? Are you looking for something?"

Thad deridingly mouthed "_Sunshine_" with a sneer. He shook his head and said, "We should leave for the lab as soon as possible."

"I'll get a transport scheduled," Meloni remarked, "I just need the coordinates."

"That won't be necessary," Thad told her, "We have our own transport."

"Your energy signature when you run might be detected by the Science Police," she warned.

Bart paused his foraging. "Our ride is on the roof."

Meloni looked up at her ceiling and raised an eyebrow. "The roof?"


	15. Lab Rats

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! Chapter Fifteen: Lab Rats_

Meloni stepped out of the pod several minutes later. Ahead of them was a massive, windowless warehouse complex. Thad inhaled deeply with a sardonic grin. "Ah, home sweet home. Most of it is underground. You'll find Science Police on the above ground levels, mostly around where the secondary time portal is. That's where they'll be watching for me. Beneath that, the defenses are automated and specifically geared for speedsters." His yellow gaze settled on Bart. "They're not entirely adapted for molecular vibration yet, since you showed no sign of it when you were in custody and I didn't learn the trick until I started observing you. That means we can still go through walls without getting our molecules scrambled. There are such barriers throughout the complex, however. If you see anything like a forcefield, do not touch it, go around it. Be mindful of laser-based and sonic weapons. We can't outrun light and by the time we realize that we have encountered a sonic, it will be too late. Any gases we encounter will not be easily metabolized and will make us very sick. There are also pressure sensors in the floor plating that will trigger the traps. On top of all of that, Craydl itself may turn on us. You are well aware of how effective it is at immobilizing a speedster."

"This sounds like a really hard level," Bart remarked.

Thad's shoulders slumped and he dryly answered, "Yes, it will be a very hard level." He turned to Meloni. "Any input?"

She checked her gun and replied, "Leave the Science Police to me. I'll clear them out. After you shut down the lab's defense systems, I'll join you."

Thad grabbed Bart's shoulder. "We'll wait until she gets inside before we move."

Bart nodded, despite not liking the idea. "So, was it hard for you to get out of there?"

"Very."

"How'd you do it?"

"Dumb luck."

"Oh." Bart scuffed the ground with his boot. "So, did you run on the walls and stuff?"

"Run on the walls? Well, no, but..." Thad's confusion gave way to a slack jaw. "What made you think of that?"

"You're supposed to be smart, right? It seemed smart." Then he grinned, "And it's something that I do in some of my videogames when there's no floor."

They watched Meloni disappear from view, and then bolted towards the warehouse. After sucking in a deep breath, they sank down into the earth and began running in absolute darkness. The hum of their bodies passing through soil and rock soon changed in pitch, telling them they were moving through concrete and metal. In the next instant, cool, sterile air brushed against them. Impulse discovered that he was in a dimly lit maintenance passageway. He launched off of the exterior wall, slammed his boots against the opposing wall, and started running. When gravity pulled him too close to the floor, he jumped across the corridor to the next wall and stared the pattern over again. Turning a corner, he caught a brief glimpse of Inertia following after him. A shimmer of green light filling the passage brought him to a stop. He jumped up, grabbed a length of exposed pipe, and dangled from the ceiling. Inertia passed by him and vibrated through the wall past the forcefield. Now, following after Inertia, Impulse passed through and began the routine of running the walls.

Inertia paused at a corner, pushing against the walls with his hands and feet to brace himself into place. Impulse paused beneath him, likewise jammed into the corner. "What is it?" he whispered to the blond boy.

"This is the wrong level for the security controls," Inertia replied, "But I don't want vibrate through the wall and miss our stop or, worse yet, land on a pressure plate and trip the alarms."

"Up or down?" Impulse asked.

"Down and towards the center of the building." Inertia jerked his chin towards his goal.

"Let's keep going until we find a way down that we can see in."

Inertia nodded and launched out of the corner. Impulse climbed up the corner before following after him. Around another corner, he spotted a sign in Interlac reading, "Exit." Inertia passed by it and disappeared around the next bend. Impulse hung onto a pipe that ran along the ceiling, wondering where the trigger to this door was. Even if he could find the trigger, he had nothing to throw at it. Impulse sighed, wondering if he would have to backtrack and find an item to go into his inventory for this. Maybe he didn't need any items. Just as Inertia came back to see what was so distracting, Impulse swung himself at the door and vibrated through it. Instead of passing entirely through, he solidified his hands and feet just enough to hold him in place as he momentarily braced against the doorframe. In the next instant, he jumped out of the doorway and onto the guardrail of the stairway beyond.

Impulse swung over railing to keep his feet away from the floor plates and moved clear of Inertia's landing. Green boots banged against the floor as Inertia missed the rail. Both boys stared at each other in alarm. Gas hissed from the air vents above them. The clank of doors locking echoed through the stairwell. Holding his breath, Impulse put his grip on the bottom rung of the railing, let himself dangle down the stairwell, and let go. He fell down the shaft, catching himself on the next level of railing. Bracing the toes of his boots against the side of the landing, he hefted himself on top of the rail and jumped for the door. Habitually, he sucked in a breath before vibrating through. He repeated the brace and jump, slamming his boots against the wall opposite the door on the other side. His stomach churned as he ran along the walls. His vision blurred and he became dizzy. Finding a corner to brace himself again, he squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed against the nausea.

Soon, Inertia joined him in the corner. "Did you breathe the gas?"

"Yeah, just a little." He was torn between wanting to puke and wanting to sleep. "I don't feel good."

"We have to keep going."

"I know. Which way?"

Inertia shook his head as if to clear it. "Forward. Follow me. Bart?"

"I don't feel good."

"Focus! We can't let the gas get the better of us!"

Impulse couldn't fight the nausea anymore and he retched onto the floor panels. Each end of the hall was instantly blocked by a forcefield. More gas hissed through the vents. Inertia gagged, but managed to yank Impulse out of the corner. "Through the wall!"

Both boys passed through the metal barrier and paused in a dark space between the walls. There was no room for them to solidify again. Even so, Impulse could hear Inertia breathing hard and fast. "You're sick, too?"

The answer was not immediate. A sickly gurgle and muttered obscenities were followed by a deep sigh. Finally, Inertia replied, "I breathed the same air you did."

"Now what?"

"We stop this game and go for dumb luck. Just start running through the walls as fast as you can. One of us will make it through and find the control center."

"Okay." Impulse burst through the wall and ran across another maintenance hall. Just before he passed through the next wall, red light filled the length of the hall from a triggered laser trap. A few more steps and he was beyond the space between the walls. There was no more floor under him when he launched off of the next wall. He fell onto a catwalk below and tumbled on the metal grating. The boom of his impact echoed off of metal canyon walls and the entire catwalk shook underneath him. Sliding his fingers along the guardrails to help his wavering balance, Impulse ran along the narrow causeway, not waiting for the effect of any sprung trap.

Above him, Inertia darted across a platform atop a massive block of equipment and jumped a gap to another. Impulse bolted for the gap jumped into it. Bracing his hands and feet against the smooth walls, he trusted the traction on his boots to help him climb up. Once on top of the platform, he followed Inertia to a heavy door and they both passed through it.

A control center greeted them and Inertia wasted no time in reaching the security terminal. Just as he began accessing the overrides, the green goop that was the Craydl technoplasm emerged from what looked to be a vent.

"You are not authorized to be here," Craydl warned. "Return to the habitation zone."

"At least now I know I can't reason with you," Inertia replied, "You were made for a purpose, just like me."

"Final warning," reported Craydl, "Return to the habitation zone or you will be immobilized."

Inertia ignored the warning. "Bart, keep him busy."

"Intruder alert," was all Craydl said before shooting out arms at Impulse. The boy dodged the arms easily enough. Whatever arms he simply couldn't sidestep, he blocked by disappearing into a wall. After what felt like hours of playing tease the blob, Craydl froze and the illumination in the control center dimmed to only the emergency lights.

Inertia sighed and kneeled onto the floor. "Finally."

Impulse darted to his side and leaned over him. "You okay?"

"I'm still trying to shake off the gas."

"Same here," Impulse remarked, "My head hurts now, but everything else is getting better."

"Just think, we were exposed to only a small amount."

"Ew." He stood straight and faced the door. "So, all of the traps are off? Can we go get Mom now?"

"The security system is only temporarily offline," Inertia answered, "I put it into a diagnostic and repair mode. It will give us an hour at most."

"That should be plenty of time. Let's go get Mom."

Inertia got to his feet and followed after Impulse. Soon, they found Meloni outside of the time portal chamber. There was no sign of the Science Police or a fight.

"I just evacuated them," she remarked, "Hopefully, they won't figure anything out before we're done. So, where are the clones being kept?"

The underground warren of the laboratory was easier to navigate now that the traps were disabled for the time being. Away from the stark and sterile habitation zone and hidden amongst the maintenance accesses, they found a door with a biometric lock. Meloni looked to the boys and grinned. "Now, what could be here?"

Impulse scooped her up and they passed through the wall beside the door. Beyond, only an eerie green light illuminated the long, narrow room. Six development tubes stood along a wall. The first tube was empty and dark, but the others each held a sleeping boy suspended in green fluid. Cables, tubes, and sensors were attached to each body. Meloni gasped at the sight and hurried to the status panels that monitored each tube. "Sprocking grife, he's really lost his spheres."

"Meet my replacements," Inertia spat, "Or rather, _our_ replacements." He approached the first tube. "How does it feel to be disposable?"

Impulse looked at each clone and frowned. "They're not all blond. Number four is, but the others are kinda red." He looked a little closer and tried to imagine the colors without the green filter. "Some are _really_ red, maybe orange." He peeled off his goggles to get rid of the yellow tint and looked again. "Well, maybe not. Maybe?" He put his goggles back on and frowned. "It's hard to tell with the other colors in the way."

Meloni stepped back and frowned. "Is it really that hard to get the hair color right on these clones?"

Inertia was reviewing the history for the empty first tube, flying through the mass of data. "Possibly. This one was very close to the right color, but still not quite right. Still a little too much red. He would have to invest in some dye to cover it up, but I doubt anyone would have really noticed the difference."

"Anyone but Carol," Impulse remarked, "She figured you out."

Inertia ignored that and focused on the data panel. "They're all being fed memories based on my impersonation preparations. It's possible that these clones may even believe that they're you." He moved from panel to panel, quickly scanning over the information. "Except number four." He cringed at the blond clone. "There's something not right with this one. I don't know what Thawne is trying to do with it, but I wouldn't let it out of this tube for any reason."

Impulse moved to peer over Inertia's shoulder. "Is he sick?"

"It depends on your definition of sick," he answered, "This one is meant to be more of an attack dog than me." The next block of information made Inertia suck in his breath. "He's giving him a copy of all of my memories! Mine! That sprocking bastard! He _was_ going to replace me! He was going to replace me with this _aberration_! I'll kill him! I'll kill them all!"

Meloni wrapped her hands around Inertia's shoulders and pulled him away from the panel. "Calm down. Nobody is killing anyone."

"Then what are you going to do with it?" Inertia snapped while pointing at the fourth clone. "I doubt you can rehabilitate _that_."

"But we can't just kill them," Meloni countered, "They're living boys just waiting to wake up. They're all your brothers."

Inertia's lip curled in a bitter sneer. "I don't have brothers." He glared at the sleeping clones. "They were all made to kill Bart, _me_, and anyone else in Thawne's way. Obedient, well-conditioned dogs. Pavlov would be proud."

"Hey, guys!" Impulse chirped. He pointed to a viewscreen in the back of the room. A man with short blond hair and sharp eyes stared back at them.

"So, you came back," Thawne smirked. "All of you."

Meloni narrowed her eyes and stepped between the boys and the screen. "Just when I think I've found the bottom to your depravity, there's something more. What you're doing here is illegal in so many ways."

Inertia glared at the image on the screen and bared his teeth. "You _lied_ to me! You lied to me and used me! You were going to throw me away!" He stepped closer to the screen. His grimace warped into a feral smile. "I'm going to do what you made me to do."

Impulse watched Inertia twist around and run towards a wall. A lump dropped in his gut and he knew that his clone was up to no good. Scooping up his mother, Impulse followed Inertia out of the lab and through the maze of passageways. Often, Inertia would disappear at intersections, leaving only a lingering spark or scuff to tell Impulse which way to go.

By the time Impulse caught up with him, he had Thawne pinned to the floor. Green gloved fists furiously pounded flesh. Impulse set Meloni down and pounced on Inertia, pulling him away from Thawne. Inertia twisted around and struck the other boy, savagely beating him until he let go.

"You're not a clone!" Meloni yelled as the boys fought, finishing her words just as Inertia grabbed onto Thawne and doubled his fist.

That brought Thad to a halt. His fist hovered over Thawne's battered face. "What?"

"You're not a clone," she repeated. "I know who you are now. I was told that you were stillborn. You were taken away before I ever heard you cry. I should have known better, but it wasn't until after Bart was taken from me that I learned anything. You weren't made to do anything. You weren't created in a lab for some demented purpose. You have the freedom to choose what to do with your life. You have the freedom to just walk away from all of this."

Thad was slackjawed. "What?"

"I was expecting twins." She reached out and pulled Thad towards her in a warm embrace. "Why are my babies always taken away from me?"

Thad dropped Thawne, frozen by the revelation. Bart gawked, and then grinned. "He's my twin brother? Cool!" He zipped to his mother's side. "So, which one of us came first?"

"You did, sunshine," Meloni replied.

Bart's smile brightened. "I'm the older brother? Awesome! Hey, Thad, I guess that means that we're supposed to be on the same side and you're not supposed to try to kill me anymore."

Still in his mother's embrace, Thad glared at Bart. "I still reserve the brotherly right of beating the ever-sprocking snot out you when you get too annoying."

Meloni's voice carried a motherly tone of warning. "Thaddeus."

An electronic beep caught their attention and they saw Thawne with a remote in his hand. The warehouse began to rumble around them. "A contingency in case Chu decided to meddle," Thawne sneered, "This is close enough."

"Oh, grife," Meloni swore and she let Thad go. "Auto destruct?"

Thawne's grin twisted into a savage smile. "A little better than that."

"Boys, stop this place from blowing up!" Meloni ordered her sons.

They darted off to find the override for the sequence. Descending into the lower levels of the facility, they searched through equipment and computers. Past the energy generators, Inertia skidded to a stop with Impulse on his heels. He ran a lap along the exterior walls and came to a stop next to Impulse again. "Whatever this whole place is sitting on is charging up!"

Impulse was playing with the generator control panels. He pulled up a schematic of the warehouse electrical system. "Hey! What if we cut the power to it?"

Inertia pushed Impulse aside and he took command over the generator controls. After a few seconds, he shook his head. "No good! I won't be able to access the overrides and shut it down in time."

"Then we pull the plug!" Impulse raced to the nearest generator and found a large power conduit. Gripping it near the base of the generator, he vibrated it with the intent to disconnect a segment of the conduit. The generator hummed in response to the vibrations and yellow Speed Force lightning crackled through the warehouse power system. The entire warehouse began to hum and vibrate around them.

Inertia yelled to Impulse, "Let's get Mom out of here!"

Impulse let go and followed Inertia back to where Meloni was helping her father to his feet. Inertia scooped her up and kept running without missing a beat. Impulse picked up Thawne and was pulled along in Inertia's wake.

Inertia set Meloni down and turned to the white and red blur that stopped beside him. "Bart! What did you do?!"

Impulse dumped his grandfather on the ground and shrugged. "I don't know! I was trying to stop it, and then things got all sparky! Why do things always get sparky and go boom when I'm trying to fix them?!"

Meloni stared at the gaping hole where the warehouse used to be. "It just disappeared."

"Craydl will take care of them," Thawne grinned, "No matter where or when they've gone, they'll still continue their mission. Craydl will see to it."

The lights of the approaching Science Police grabbed their attention. Meloni turned to the boys. "Go back to Helen and wait there for me. I'll come get you when everything clears up."

After they vanished, Thawne turned to his daughter. "Why did you lie to the clone about being a twin?"

"You want to live, right?" Meloni answered, "As long as he believes that he isn't what you created him to be, he shouldn't come for you, as much as you deserve otherwise."


	16. Fracture

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! Chapter Sixteen: Fracture_

The pod returned to Manchester only hours after it left. A strange smell akin to burning plastic filled the tiny cabin. Thad tried to get a response out of the controls, but the systems were all dead. Bart tried his hand at it and got the same results. "I think we broke it."

"No more time traveling for us," Thad agreed, "At least for now."

Bart kneeled down to look under the panels. "Can we fix it?"

Thad pulled his mask back and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. I just want to lay down and sleep." He squeezed his eyes shut. "For all I know, this is just a very detailed simulation and I failed it miserably. At any moment, Craydl is going to switch me over to the analysis center and we'll review everything I did wrong. We'll go through corrections, and then I'll do it all over again."

Wrinkling his nose, Bart sniffed at the air again. "So, did your simulations ever have smells?"

"No." Thad's shoulders slumped. "I don't want this to be real."

Bart raised an eyebrow under his goggles. "Why not?"

The hollow echoes of someone knocking on the outside of the pod jolted the both of them. Bart vibrated through the wall and came face to face with a familiar red uniform. "Wally?"

"I came back to check up on your clone," Wally started, "And Helen told me-"

"Brother," Bart corrected, "Mom said he's my brother."

Wally's confused expression was easily readable, despite his mask. "What?"

Thad stepped out of the pod and looked up at the Flash. "Oh. _You_." He barely turned his head towards Bart and grumbled, "I'm going to bed."

"Okay, good night," Bart blithely replied.

At the kitchen table, Bart told Helen and Wally about everything that he did in the future. When he was done, Wally peeled off his cowl and leaned back in his chair. "So, Max is doing something in the Speed Force, which bothers me, and you actually have an twin brother, because your mother was told he was stillborn. I think I've heard this story before from a Thawne."

"Did Mom already talk to you?" Looking to Helen, Bart added, "As soon as Mom clears things up, she's gonna come back for us. I dunno if I'm gonna go yet, but Thad doesn't like it here, so he'll at least go back and stay with Mom."

Wally propped his elbows on the table and tucked one fist into the other. Bart recognized his cousin's extra-serious thinking face and wondered what sort orders he was going to give. Train with Jay, Bart? Stay home, Bart? Move away from Alabama, Bart? When Wally finally spoke, it was nothing of the sort. "You're sure that Max didn't say what exactly he was up to?"

"He didn't give us time to ask," Bart answered. Then he added, "You're worried about it, too?"

Surprised, Wally sat up and stared at his cousin. "Too? You've been thinking about this?"

"Well, yeah. The Speed Force gives us our powers, which is awesome, but bad stuff comes out of it, too. Whenever Max paid a lot of attention to it, that's when the bad stuff happened." Bart shrugged. "If Max doesn't wanna come home, then there's something going on." He scowled and clenched his fists. "Nobody tells me anything."

"Maybe it's because you're not listening," Wally retorted before he realized that he said it. He let out a long sigh. "I'll let Jay know that Max is up to something and that he needs to stay on his toes. As to your, uh, brother... Keep an eye on him. Don't let him loose. I don't care what kind of sob story he has, that kid is still a little bent." He watched Bart yawn, fought back the urge to yawn himself, and failed. "Well, it's late and I'm not Batman. Linda's keeping a bed warm for me back home and I don't want it to go to waste."

Once Wally was gone, Bart checked up on Thad in the guestroom. His brother was out of his costume and under the covers. His back was turned away from the door, so Bart could only assume that he was sleeping. After entering his own room and changing into his sleepwear, Bart climbed up to his bed and crawled under his blanket.

He was sitting on the patio table bench behind the house, tossing a ball to Dox. The sky was painted in vivid shades of red, orange, and yellow above him. While the dog chased the ball across the backyard, Bart picked at the paint peeling off of the bench. The wooden planks creaked as a weight settled beside him. Max watched Dox bring the ball back and picked up the slobber-drenched toy. "I envy the dog a little," Max remarked as he threw the ball, "He doesn't have to worry about much. Helping people, the Speed Force, time travel, dysfunctional family, none of that matters to him."

"Max, don't you like it here?" Bart asked. It was an impulsive question and he knew it, but he had to ask.

"Of course I do," Max answered, "I never intended to leave the way I did, but I had to run with it."

"So, why don't you come home?" Bart picked up the ball and threw it again.

"I told you, there's something I need to do in the Speed Force."

"Like what?" When Max didn't reply immediately, Bart insisted, "Tell me!"

"No."

"Grife, not this again."

"Language, young man," warned Max, as he threw the ball for Dox.

"You're not coming home, are you?" Bart felt his stomach twist at the thought. "You're in the Speed Force and you're not coming back."

"Wally came back," reminded Max.

"Wally's different," Bart shot back, "You've been trying to get into the Speed Force for a long time and now you're there." Max offered no reply. Instead, he picked up Dox's ball and threw it. Bart looked for some way to break the silence. "So, what am I supposed to do now?"

"You'll figure it out."

"Is that another one of your Zen Master answers?" Bart looked to his side and saw no one there. "Max?" He stood and searched the backyard. "Max? Where'd you go? Max? Max!"

Thad walked down the dark hallway and paused by Bart's bedroom door. He could hear his brother thrashing in his sleep and calling out for Max. Slipping inside the room, he climbed up the ladder to the lofted bed and stared down at Bart. His brother was calm in his sleep now. Thad narrowed his eyes and scowled. As far as he was concerned, he was no better than a conditioned dog and Bart was the bell. Here, Bart was at his most vulnerable. Here, Thad could easily make the kill in at least a dozen different ways. His mind's eye played out all of the scenarios with perfect clarity. Then they continued a few steps further. Helen's horrified reaction. Meloni's anger and accusing him of being no better than her father. What would Max say when he returned? He did not want to think about that. There would be some sort of retribution for the murder, of course. He could expect no less. There would be no safe haven for him. If he was still obedient to Thawne, then what? Could he expect Thawne to protect him? Or would his access to Craydl be cut off, leaving Thad marooned in a primitive time to rot? He knew the answer to that. He was disposable to Thawne. Once the job was done, he would be thrown away. After all, plenty more could be made to run in his place.

Thad felt carpet followed by cold linoleum under his feet. He closed the bathroom door behind him and flipped the light switch. In the mirror over the sink, a blond boy stared back at him. He was not a clone, not a conditioned dog, and not beholden to Thawne. Cold water flowed from the faucet and Thad washed his hands and face. He could beat the conditioning, he assured himself. He did not have to follow orders from anyone. It was simply a matter of time and the proper correction techniques. He still had to research what those techniques were, but that could wait until morning. Burying his dripping face in a towel, he sighed. Sleep was not coming easily to him tonight. He couldn't stop thinking about what Meloni told him and the implications of it all. That familiar feeling of rage returned to him. His fists and teeth clenched and he had the urge to hit something, preferably some_one_. Bart was the first thing that came to mind, but he had better control of his impulses than his brother did. He couldn't let Thawne win.

Bart yawned and rubbed at his eyes while he staggered into the kitchen. It was easy to just follow his nose when Helen was making breakfast. Coffee was the first scent to reach him, never mind that Helen forbade him from ever drinking it. Still in his sleepwear, Bart sat at the kitchen table. "G'mornin'."

"Where's Thad?" Helen asked without turning away from the stove.

Bart shrugged. "I dunno. He's not in his room?"

"He's not anywhere in the house."

A rush of wind alerted Bart and Helen that Wally had returned. He towered over Bart. "Suit up," he ordered, "We have to find your brother before the JLA does."

"What?" Bart opened his ring and his costume popped out. "What did he do? Did he really go all evil twin? Is he a Rogue now? That sucks!"

Wally held out his hands. "Whoa! No! He's just... I don't know what he's doing, except running around the world and pounding seven shades of hell out of people."

As soon as Bart was in his uniform, he followed Wally out of Manchester. They weren't going faster than sound yet, which meant that Wally had something to say. "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on him?"

"I was sleeping!" Bart snapped back. "He was supposed to be in bed, too! Don't yell at me when I didn't do anything!"

Wally was quiet for a few moments, and then changed his direction. Now, they were running faster than any jet could fly. Crossing the ocean was a walk in the park for them.

Somewhere in an African city, Flash and Impulse found Thad in the middle of a fallen armed crowd in front of a warehouse. Everything stood still, except for a barefooted blond speedster in nothing but his pajama bottoms. His arms and hands were wrapped in what was left of his shirt. Blood spatters speckled his skin and soaked into cloth. Fear was plainly etched into the faces of a few men that Thad disarmed and attacked.

Impulse surged forward and tackled Thad to the ground. He wrapped his arms tight around his now struggling brother. Even when Thad started to vibrate, Bart matched him, frequency for frequency. The Flash positioned himself to capture Thad, in case he broke free. Wally watched closely for any change in direction and noticed that behind the yellow goggles, Bart's eyes were closed. Thad looked exhausted with purple shadows under his eyes. When did the boy last sleep? A scream filled with primal rage escaped from Thad as he stopped vibrating. He continued to struggle under his brother's grip and he gave another angry scream. It wasn't as powerful as the first, to Wally's relief. Thad was tiring and his knees gave out. Both boys kneeled on the ground and, to Bart's credit, he did not let up his grip for even a nanosecond.

"Hang on to him until he's calmed down," Flash advised Impulse. He took a moment to survey the carnage around him and the story it told him. The men that were beaten were alive, but crippled in one way or another. Those that could still walk would need dentures for the rest of their lives. The men that were dead were simply shot. Friendly fire, Wally realized, incurred when the men tried to shoot Thad down. Instead of catching the bullets, Thad didn't bother to save the men from each other and simply dodged. Past the gory battleground, the warehouse locks were gone and inside stood shipping pallets stacked high with food relief. Bare footprints in the dust led to and from a section of emptied pallets.

Wally's jaw dropped as he realized what Thad was up to. The men he attacked were part of a warlord's army that was keeping food away from the populace. Here, whoever controlled the food controlled the people. Thad, in his own bent little way, rectified that. "Oh man, the JLA's going to have a field day with this one." He was not looking forward to sitting at that table today.

He heard Bart's voice somewhere behind him. "Thad, you okay?" Wally turned to see Impulse still not relaxing his grip on his brother. "You okay?" Bart repeated.

"Get off me. Leave me alone." Thad twisted and shoved Bart away.

Bart ignored that and zipped into Thad's path. "What's wrong? Are you mad about something?"

Thad glared and shoved Bart aside. "You have no idea."

"What are you mad about?" Bart started jogging to keep up with Thad. Right behind them, Wally kept pace and listened in.

"Everything."

Nothing else was said on the trip back to Manchester. Inside the house, Wally turned to the boys. Pointing to Thad, he ordered, "You aren't leaving this house today. Since Bart has school and I have my duties, I'm getting Jay to babysit you. Go get cleaned up." Pointing to Bart, he added, "Watch him. I don't care if you go into the bathroom with him, do not let him out of your sight."

In the bathroom, Bart flipped the toilet lid down and sat on it. Awkwardly fidgeting, his yellow eyes traced the ceiling, trying to give Thad some privacy without letting his vigilance slip. His brother let cold water rain from the showerhead. "If you're staying in here, you must think that I'll really run." Thad cast off the last bits of clothing and stepped into the shower.

Once the frosted glass door was slid shut, Bart allowed his gaze to wander normally. "I dunno. Maybe. Yeah." He glanced down at the bloodstained cloth on the floor. "Maybe you should lay low here for a while. I know it sucks to not run anywhere, 'cause I hate it, too. But I don't want you to be taken away."

Thad's surprise was genuine. "What? Why?"

"'Cause everyone goes away," Bart answered, "I can't stay with Grandma or Mom. I don't get to even see them much. Jenni had to go back. Max is gone. Wally doesn't like me. Even Carol went away for a while." He rocked back and forth on his perch. "I almost had to go away from here, too. Now that you're here, you want to go away too."

"Bart, you keep forgetting that I tried to _kill_ you and Max," Thad reminded, "I _beat up_ Grandma Iris. Every time I look at you, I get the urge to finish the job Thawne created, no, _trained_ me for."

"But you don't." When Thad didn't reply, Bart added, "Would you try staying here for a little while? I won't run anywhere either. Then the others will get off our backs, 'cause we're being good."

"_We_? _You're_ the good brother. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Yeah, I do." Bart hopped to his feet and rocked on his heels. "I screw up all the time. Everyone says so. That's why I'm not supposed to do the hero thing without an adult. That's why I wasn't invited to join the Teen Titans."

"Are you kidding me?" Thad's tone was sharp and angry. "What business does anyone have in telling you how to help people? What business do you have in even listening to them? I don't see you calling yourself Kid Flash and running at Wally's side like an obedient puppy. You're not a sidekick."

"I'm still a kid."

"So? We've been in virtual training to be soldiers since we were infants. Granted, we were intended to be the personal strike forces of President Thawne, which is a little counterproductive to the fluffy, feel-good heroism that's touted as the ideal around here. Seriously, Bart, what did you think all of those games were designed for? They were made to create loyal minions who took out all obstacles in their path, no matter what they were, without concern for bystanders or any fear of death."

Bart almost swore that he heard a clicking sound in his head. "Going after the gunmen instead of the hostages first."

"So, you get it?"

"Y-yeah. I think so."

"You simply never made it to the final polishing stages," Thad pointed out, "And I suspect that I was activated prematurely. In any case, we're more than capable of operating on our own. We don't need some nosy busybodies lording over us and expecting obedience just because of the legacy we inherited." He shut off the water. "Hand me the towel."

In the living room, Bart and a freshly dried and dressed Thad encountered Wally and Jay. The elder Flash rested his gaze on the blond boy. "You must be Thad."

"You must be Jay Garrick," Thad replied.

Jay tilted his graying head towards Bart. "You're going to be late to school, son. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on your brother until you get back."

Bart's eyes darted between Jay and Thad for a moment. With a burst of speed, he changed into his civilian clothes, grabbed his backpack, and left for school. Thad flopped down on the couch, crossed his arms, and glared at the television screen.

Jay sighed and tilted his hat back. "Let me know how things go with League," he said to Wally, "I have a feeling that this is going to be a long day."


	17. Antiseptic

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! Chapter Seventeen: Antiseptic_

As soon as the last bell at school rang, Bart jogged out of class. He was so ready to leave the classrooms behind for the day. Preston managed to catch up to him in the traffic congested halls. "What's the hurry?"

"Gotta get home," Bart answered. He stopped in front of his locker and wished that he could just reach his hand through the metal door instead of slowly fussing with the combination lock. He _could_, but Preston was watching.

Preston moved to let another student get by. "Which game did you get this time?"

"I didn't."

"So, what's the rush?"

"Um..." Bart tried to think of a good reason other than his evil twin was acting weird and it was worrying him. "Family visiting."

"You have a huge family," Preston remarked with a half grin.

Bart absently agreed with a mumbled, "Uh huh." He shoved his books into his backpack and slammed the locker shut. "I'll talk to ya later." Sometimes, he wanted to tell Preston everything, like he did with Carol. There were so many times when he nearly threw aside all concern for his identity, but Max managed to drill in the rule strongly enough to stop him. Bart kept hoping that Preston would give him a sign saying that he knew the truth of who Impulse was. It would not be a drawing, like Carol's, because Preston could barely draw stick figures. The Impulse movie he made certainly was no sign, because of how wrong it got everything. It was still painful to watch, but at least now it wasn't a depressing sort of pain. Now it was the slightly cringe-inducing, embarrassing kind.

As soon as Bart was clear of any audience at the school, he ran home. Dropping his backpack and jacket on the floor, he noticed that it was rather quiet and empty in the house. Where was everybody? Did Wally come back and drag Thad away? Did Jay go home? Where was Dox? He searched the house and found the garage occupied. Jay was sorting through the fishing poles and tackle, cleaning off years of dust and grime. The spherical timepod was open and Bart could see Thad halfway under the control panel. Dox was busy sniffing at everything.

"Welcome home," Jay greeted after a fleeting glance to Bart. "Is all this Max's?" he asked of the fishing gear.

"No, Max keeps his stuff in the basement," Bart answered on his way to the timepod. "That stuff was Helen's ex-husband's." He poked his head into the pod. "Whatcha doin'?"

From under the control panel, Thad answered, "Trying to fix this."

"Getting anywhere?"

"Go away."

Bart opted to ignore that command. "Not going good?"

Thad pulled away from the panel and sat in the doorway. "I'll have to _make_ the tools required to repair this properly. There isn't even an emergency repair kit in there. Who sends a timepod into a primitive era without an emergency repair kit?!" He glared at Bart as if it were his brother's fault.

"Hey! I didn't make this thing!" Bart protested, "Carol and I just..." He glanced at Jay and lowered his voice to a whisper. "...Kinda stole it."

Thad's eyebrows' raised, and then he heaved an exasperated sigh. "Next time you abscond with a timepod, get a repair kit to go with it."

"Can you fix the pod?" Bart asked again.

Thad shrugged and his reply was sour. "I don't know. I'm learning as I go. So far, I've only managed to open the door." He hopped out of the timepod's doorway and paced the garage. His stride was tense and angry. "I'm not to leave Manchester," he snarled. "Wally came back and told me that I am on _probation_! I am not to leave this town or I will be forcibly confined!"

Bart looked to Jay for verification and the elder speedster nodded. Jay set aside the fishing gear. "The JLA thinks that your brother is a risk. They are letting him stay here so your mother can find him. This also gives him the chance to work through his problems on his own."

Thad thumped his fist against the garage door. "At least I had Craydl before. Now, I'm stuck with _you_." He glared at Bart again.

Bart frowned and crossed his arms. "Did Craydl ever stick up for you?" When Thad silently turned his head away, Bart added, "I didn't have to, but Max said that you weren't all bad. Max wouldn't want you to be alone. Max wanted you to stay here with us and, since he isn't here, it's my job to look out for you. Besides, Mom said I'm the big brother and that's what big brothers are supposed to do."

Rolling his eyes, Thad snorted. "Thanks for the touching moment, but it's not making my situation any better."

Jay approached the boys with quiet steps. "Choices have consequences and you chose to disobey your grandfather and leave. What would have happened if you stayed?"

"I would have been termin-... killed. I would have been killed." Thad's downcast eyes shifted away from Jay.

"Like I said, son, you just need a little quiet time to sort yourself out and this is a good place for it. Don't look at this like a punishment. It's just a way to keep you from doing something you might regret. This isn't all that bad. Eventually, your mother will come pick you up and your situation will change again."

Thad clenched his jaw and fists and said nothing in return. He stalked back into the house, punching the doorframe as he passed by. Bart blew stray hair out of his face. "He can't stay cranky all the time, can he?"

"Some people are just determined," Jay replied amicably as he followed after the blond boy. "He'll get over it, if he'll let himself. If not, there's not much we can do for him."

"What? What does that mean?" Bart hurried after Jay. "We can help him, right? Max said-"

"-Inertia still has to make his own choices," Jay interrupted, "We can offer all the help in the world and it won't matter if he doesn't want it." Seeing Bart's distressed expression, he added, "But so far, he's doing good. He seems to know what's at stake. Right now, I'm not too worried." He paused and turned to Bart. "I remember Wally having to call in me, Max, Johnny, and Jesse just to rein you in after you hauled off and decked him. You've come a long way in a short time. Being here with Max and Helen did a lot for you. Being here with you and Helen can do a lot for your brother. He's got a lot of rage he has to deal with. The worst thing he can do is let it sit and fester." He put a hand on Bart's shoulder. "Help him make friends and learn how to live a good life. He already got a good start when he had to pose as you, now he needs to learn how to do it for himself."

Bart nodded and grinned. "I can do that!" Then he frowned and wrinkled his nose. "But he's a mean jerk."

"Nobody's expecting you two to be the best of friends, especially because of what he tried to do. Just do your best and don't let him push you around."

Bart nodded again and found Thad sitting on the couch in front of the television, watching the local news. When Bart kneeled down in front of the television to change games out of the console, Thad snapped, "I'm watching that!"

Tossing a controller to Thad, Bart replied, "I challenge you to a duel."

Thad stared at the controller sourly, and then looked up at the television to see the opening screen of a fighting game. "I wanted to see the news."

"Go look it up on the internet later," Bart retorted, "You can read it faster than listening to it. You're mad and this is what I like to do when I get mad."

"Randomly mash buttons?" He didn't sound impressed.

Bart flew through the game menus. "It doesn't get me in as much trouble as actually hitting real people. Here, pick your character."

Helen came home to find the boys engrossed in a battle against each other, each pressing buttons furiously. The fight ended and Thad threw the controller to the ground. "This isn't working."

"We could try a different game," Bart suggested.

"I'm _pressing buttons_," Thad snapped. "What does that accomplish? _This_-" He pointed at the television, "-is frivolous. It does nothing!"

Bart tilted his head, looking at his brother and then the controller. Then, without a word, he punched Thad. Startled, Thad stared at him, and then noticed the surprised expressions on Jay's and Helen's faces. Bart stood up. "Well, aren't ya gonna hit me?"

Thad eyed Bart warily and stood. "What is this? Is this a trick?"

"No, I'm serious. Hit me." When Thad hesitated, Bart insisted, "Fighting game in real life, right here."

Helen sucked in a breath as she realized what Bart was up to. "Not in the house."

Bart nodded and grabbed Thad's arm. "C'mon! I know a place that's still inside Manchester."

When they ran off, Jay tipped his hat to Helen. "I'll keep an eye on them."

Once the boys were sure that nobody other than Jay was watching, Bart faced Thad in a combative stance. "Let's get this done before dinner."

Thad struck with a punch and Bart blocked with his forearms. Jay stood aside and watched, ready to intervene in case the fight got out of hand. Every now and then at a particularly solid strike by either boy, he tensed and stepped forward, but they would continue on as if there was nothing to worry about. As Jay watched, he saw Thad smile for the first time. It was a wicked, predatory grin, full of bloodthirsty pleasure. Bart wasn't smiling. Instead, it was taking everything he had to hold his own against Thad. The treads of their shoes carved divots into the earth and tore up the grass. Sparks of static and stray Speed Force lightning trailed after them. Then Thad slipped past Bart's defenses and slammed down with an elbow and up with a knee.

The next thing Bart knew, he was looking up at Jay's concerned face. The elder speedster held out an arm to halt Thad. Thad's yellow eyes gleamed and he was still smiling, spoiling for more. Jay held out his other hand to help Bart to his feet. "You all right, son?"

Bart nodded and prodded his ribs and gut. Everything felt like it was still in one piece, despite how sore he was. "Yeah, I'm good." He watched Thad's smile fade. "Feel better now?"

Thad thought this over for a moment, and then nodded with a surprised expression. "Yes, I do, actually."

Helen had just started the coffee maker when Jay returned with Bart and Thad. Both boys were dirty and disheveled with rapidly fading bruises and scrapes on their faces and knuckles. Jay nodded his head in greeting to Helen. She wrinkled her nose at the odor of sweat, dirt, and lightning that pervaded her kitchen. "Go hit the showers," she told the boys, "One of you can use mine. Go. Now." She fanned the air as they left the room. "They were really going at it, weren't they?" she asked Jay.

He nodded again. "I was a little worried a few times, but Bart's no slouch in a fight." He sat down at the table. "He's not a mean as his brother, though. That kid... For his own grandfather to make him like that..." Jay shook his head with a frown. "If I ever get a chance to meet that man..." He clenched his fist on the table. "I hope I never do."

"Same here," Helen replied.

"I'm thinking of introducing the boys to an old friend of mine," Jay remarked, "Wildcat could teach them how to spar without losing control and hurting each other. He's not in Manchester, but if Wally and the JLA have a problem with it, they can sit on it."

"Taking up the mentor role after all?" Helen asked with a grin.

"Just giving them more resources." Jay listened to the coffee maker brew. "Those boys are loyal to Max. If they don't want me as a mentor, there's no force that will make them listen to me. I find it funny that Bart seems to listen to Max more now than he did when Max was here."

"Trying to make up, I guess," Helen remarked as she settled into the wooden chair. "It makes me wonder if that's part of Max's plan."

Jay's eyebrows rose at that. "Well, I hadn't thought about that, but now that you bring it up, I wouldn't put it past him." An amused grin deepened the lines on his face. "As long as he's not here, there's no competition between the two over who's the "favored son," either." His grin faded. "I hope that's all that's going on."

"I do too."

For the next few days, Bart went to school, while Thad stayed at home and tinkered with the timepod. In the evenings, they followed Jay to meet with Wildcat and learn about controlled sparring. As the boys fought with each other, Jay and Wildcat show them how to restrict themselves to only light contact. They gave them pointers on how to move, how to strike, and how to defend. While Wildcat's movements were frustratingly slow to the boys, the pace gave them the opportunity to observe every nuance. Thad proved to be the fastest study and adept at copying and reading moves, but Bart was more capable of improvisation, creating his own attacks and counters against his brother.

"I can't tell if Impulse is getting lucky or if he's really figuring things out," Wildcat remarked during a sparring match.

Jay shrugged in response. "He's Impulse."

"Either case, he's got good natural movement." Wildcat jerked his chin towards the other boy. "That Inertia kid is good on the techniques, but I see why you wanted them to learn controlled sparring. For all of that focus, he looks like he's _this_ close to coming unglued too often. _Something's_ not right."

"Is he getting better?"

Wildcat shrugged. "He's better today than he was a couple days ago, but it's too soon to say for sure." He called an end to the match when Bart dodged a strike and kicked Thad's legs out from under him, finally scoring a victory for the evening. "Good! Let's call it a night." After a few last pointers, the boys ran home under Jay's escort.

"Are we gonna go again tomorrow?" Bart asked, "I want to meet up with my friends tomorrow. I want to show them where my spaceship is parked now."

"Take your brother with you," Jay answered.

"But it's not in Manchester," Bart informed.

"Is it close?"

"It's still in Alabama, yeah."

"Close enough," Jay remarked, "He should meet your friends. You are all supposed to be disbanded, right?"

"Yeah," Bart answered, "We're just hanging out. We won't be looking for trouble."


	18. Clubhouse

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

* * *

_Reset! Chapter Eighteen: Clubhouse_

Bart skidded to a stop in the garage and peeked his head into the timepod. Thaddeus was still in there, tinkering away. Bart tried to peer over his brother's shoulder, but he couldn't peek into the open panel without crawling all the way into the pod. "Are you coming?"

Thad looked up and set aside the multimeter that he found. "In a moment."

"Okay, but everyone's who's coming is already there," Bart remarked. "Anita's not coming, 'cause her parents are sick and she has to stay with them. Greta's not coming, 'cause she has a test and a report due on Monday and, if she comes, she's not gonna get anything done. That's was she says, anyways. She's probably right. Cissie's coming, 'cause she doesn't have any tests until Wednesday and she's going crazy in the dorms at her school. I even got Rob to come, even though he was complaining about school and stuff, too."

Thad finished tidying up and closed the panel while Bart spoke. "I don't need the insipid details." He hopped out of the pod. "This is going to be awkward."

"Awkward?" Bart tilted his head and tried to think of what Thad meant. He came up with a blank.

"I know them, but they don't know me." Thad ran his fingers through his hair to brush it back and smooth it down. "I was an imposter."

"It'll all be cool," Bart assured, "You already met Kon and Anita and everything turned out fine, right?"

Thad glanced back to the timepod. "I suppose." A harsh breath blasted from his nose. "Let's get this over with."

Bart paused and saw the frown on Thad's downcast face. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Thad's expression hardened and his voice took on a sharper tone. "Let's go."

The spaceship was tucked away in a large hangar on a private airfield. Bart didn't know the details of the deal that Wally struck to get the space and he didn't much care. Just inside the door of the vessel, Kon, Cassie, and Cissie were talking. They paused in their conversation when they spotted Bart and Thad climbing up the ramp.

Bart waved and grinned at his friends as he approached. "Hey! This is Thad. He's my twin brother!" At that, Thad rolled his eyes and sighed.

Kon raised an eyebrow. "You mean clone."

Thad replied with a smug grin. "No, I'm a twin. My mother isn't a test tube after all."

"Our mom told us all about it," Bart elaborated before Kon could shoot off a retort. "Our grandfather took him away when he was born and told Mom that he was dead."

"Point for the test tube," Kon quipped, "Test tubes don't have evil crazy."

Cassie stood face to face with Thad and frowned. "_He's_ the one who pretended to be you? He's _blond_."

"Aren't you the observant one?" Thad sneered, "It's amazing what a cheap bottle of dye can do."

Kon raised his eyebrows and remarked aside to Cassie, "I said he was a jerk."

They filed into the common area and Bart meandered to the monitor center. It was not functioning yet, despite Bart and Kon's best efforts. It wasn't blown to pieces, which was a bonus. Robin was halfway under the station and working on getting the device installed. Bending to get a better look, Bart asked, "Still no good?"

"No," Robin replied with a frustrated sigh, "I don't know enough about either system to get them to connect and we don't have any manuals. I think I'm getting closer, but..." He trailed off, realizing that Bart had already left to pester Cissie. He continued staring at wires and ports, hoping that he would get a burst of inspiration.

Thad approached the defunct center and surveyed the panels. "What is this?"

"What's what?" Robin asked without withdrawing from the underside of the center. "Please don't say that there's a shiny red button up there that's blinking."

Bart darted to other side of the monitor center. "This is so we can see if there's anything we have to help with," he explained before running off to pounce on Kon.

Robin answered from under the center. "So, you answered your own question."

Thad inspected the controls a little more closely. "What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to get this connected to the ship, so we can use it." Robin reached out and tapped Thad's shoe. "Hand me the little screwdriver kit that's up there." Thad obliged and put the kit into Robin's outstretched hand. "I didn't notice this panel before," Robin remarked, "It might be what I was looking for."

A thump reverberated through the floor as Kon flipped Bart off of his shoulders. Laughing, they started a wrestling match, ignoring Cassie's orders to stop. Annoyed, she dove into the fray, easily tossing Bart aside to grapple with Kon. With a little assistance from his telekinesis, he pinned her to the floor. Bart pounced him again and reached for a tickle attack. Kon's hold on Cassie broke and a wicked grin curved on her lips.

"Oh, have we found something Superboy is _not_ invulnerable to?" She tackled him with her own tickle attack, searching for the most reaction. Kon laughed and howled, begging for them to stop.

Detecting an easy victory, Cissie piled on. "More devastating than the Joker's gas!"

Robin pushed himself out from under the monitor station to see Kon squirming under the people pile. Then he realized that the mop of brown hair was there and not standing beside him. His eyes traced a path up to the serious face of Inertia. Shoving away, he scrambled to his feet. "_Bart!_"

The attack on Kon stopped and Bart was suddenly standing beside Tim. "Yeah?"

"Why is he here?" Robin asked, pointing to Thad.

"'Cause he's gonna get lonely if I leave him at home," Bart answered. Kon pulled Cassie into a telekinetically reinforced bear hug behind them.

Robin looked down at their shoes and his jaw slackened. "His feet are as big as yours!"

Both speedsters looked down and then at each other. Shrugging, they turned their attention to the monitor station. "I thought you said that Young Justice was disbanded," Thad remarked to Bart at a speed that was comfortable to him.

"Yeah, I did," Bart answered at the same speed, "But why not use this awesome equipment if we got it?"

"And you have a spaceship." Thad crossed his arms. "I won't ask how you got it. Do you even know how to use it? Maintain it?"

"Kinda. I know how to fly it. It's actually pretty easy. Slobo used to do all of the repair stuff for it, but now he's gone."

"So, you don't know anything on how to properly maintain it." Thad snorted and rolled his eyes. "Wonderful. Do you even know where engineering is?" When Bart nodded, Thad demanded, "Take me there. I'll do what you neglected to do and actually learn about the mechanics of this ship."

Bart opted to ignore Thad's nasty tone, brushing it aside as just how Thad talked. "Don't you wanna hang out?" Bart asked, "Nobody else is gonna be in engineering and it's no fun when you're by yourself."

"That might be true for you," countered Thad, "But not for me." Seeing Bart's crestfallen expression, he added, "I'll be a lot happier being useful there, than being bored out of my mind here. Besides, I won't have to go as slow."

"You sure?"

"If I get lonely, I'll come visit," Thad snidely assured. He jogged away in search of engineering. Not wanting to listen to another derogatory rant, Bart decided to just let Thad find the room on his own. In the meanwhile, he waited for the others to speak. Eventually, the syllables cohered into in a sentence from Kon. "What was that about?"

"Thad went to engineering to figure out the ship," Bart answered, taking care to drag out the sounds long enough for Kon to understand him. He pushed his hair out of his face. "I wonder why he's doing that? He doesn't want to stay in this time. Why would he do all this work with the timepod and this spaceship if he's just leave with Mom, anyways?" Then his eyes brightened with realization. "Oh! Maybe that's why he doesn't wanna hang out? He doesn't want to make friends and then have to leave them? I wouldn't want to do that, either." He paused for a moment and his shoulders drooped. "Oh. Yeah. Mom is gonna come and pick Thad and me up and take us back to the thirty-first century."

The following silence seemed to stretch on forever to him. He watched the faces of his friends slowly morph through emotions. Disbelief, shock, and surprise all made appearances. Was Kon even a little angry?

"When were you gonna spring that on us?" Kon demanded, "Or were you gonna give us a last moment, "Bye, everyone!" and run away?"

"Sorry!" Bart held up his hands in a warding gesture. "I kinda forgot about it." He ran his hands through his hair. "I guess that since I was gonna tell Mom that I want to stay here, it didn't seem all _that_ important."

Robin approached the doorway that would eventually lead to engineering. "I don't think we should let him have free run down there. We can't trust him."

Bart zipped to Robin's side again. "I think he's okay. He's not working for President Thawne anymore."

"I want to believe that, Bart, I really do," Robin admitted, "But that doesn't mean that he won't try to hurt you or us either now or in the future. He's not..." He looked Bart in the eyes and sighed. "I guess he's here now and we've let _Lobo_ join us in the past, so I guess Inertia can't be any worse." He cast a worried glance to Cassie.

Cassie tapped Kon's arm to signal that she wanted him to let go. Once released, she approached Bart. Her jaw was firmly set and it was obvious to Bart that she was going into leader mode. She always seemed to get so serious when she did that. The pause before she spoke seemed to last for hours. "He'll have to earn our trust, but if _you_ want to give him a chance, _we'll_ give him a chance."

Kon crossed his arms. "This doesn't mean that he's a card carrying member of our club, though."

"Yeah, I know." Bart stopped before he could say anything more. Thad ran into the room from engineering and hummed around the monitor center, kicking up a breeze. Before anyone else could blink, Bart zipped over to see what he was doing. "What-?"

"This is the wrong wall to install this on," Thad interrupted, "I'll open the correct access panel. You get the dumb muscle to move this equipment over there."

A little while and a salvaged power adapter later, the monitor equipment glowed to life. Robin's fingers flew over the controls, bringing up the local reports. Bart sighed and draped his chin and arms over the back of the chair. "So, now that we got that working, can we play some games or stuff? I thought we were gonna hang out." He pointed past Robin's head to the main display. "See? Look, the JLA and JSA got everything covered."

Cassie pulled Robin out of the chair and dragged him towards the couch. "C'mon, we have junk food waiting to be eaten and I want to see you versus Bart on Brawl."

After playing a few rounds, Kon opened a soda and leaned back on the couch. "So, Miami or Los Angeles?"

Robin didn't look away from the screen when he answered, "For what?"

"I'm thinking about moving again," Kon replied, "The, ah, Super family is great, but I don't think I'm really cut out for the lifestyle. The whole secret identity idea just isn't working for me. If Cadmus can't support me, I might as well support myself, right? So, I've been thinking about where I really want to live. I keep thinking about Hawaii, but I'm not sure they would want me back, considering that the freaks of the week are bad for the tourism business there. It's also a _long_ flight from there to just about anywhere. So, I figured if it's the sunny, _warm_ beaches that I want, there are a couple of other areas that might be willing to host a Superboy. It's just a choice between earthquakes and hurricanes."

Bart piped up with, "Miami's closer."

Cissie switched seats with Cassie and let her have a turn at the game. "I'm betting that Los Angeles is a little more open to weird."

Robin waited before starting another round to say, "How are you going to pay the bills?"

"Same way most people do," Kon answered, "Get a job. Maybe play to my strengths and a get a paid emergency rescue gig or something."

"You'll have to take classes and get certified before you can do any of that," Robin reminded.

"Seriously? Even with everything I've done?" When Robin nodded, Kon sighed. "Well, I might as well get the papers saying that I know what I'm doing. So, L.A. or Miami? Miami or L.A.? Miami's a lot closer to Gorgeous Gilly's neighborhood..." He trailed off with a worried expression.

Cassie failed to hide her sour scowl. "Of course you would want to be closer to a pretty girl."

"Uh, reverse everything you just said. You haven't seen Gorgeous Gilly." Kon cringed and shuddered. "A total low in my otherwise illustrious career. I _still_ have nightmares about her." He shuddered again and swigged his soda as if to wash a bad taste away. "I think I've been permanently _tainted_." After chugging the rest of his soda, he added, "L.A.'s a longer flight to any of you and a little too close to Titan territory for my liking, but it's a far away as I can get from her without going back to Hawaii."

An alarm sounded from the monitor station, prompting Robin to abandon the game. Cassie followed him to the display. "We're not going after anything that's not in the neighborhood," she reminded.

"This one's in the neighborhood," Robin confirmed, "Looks like one of your friends, Bart. White Lightning's at it again."

In an instant, Bart was staring at the screen. "Aw, grife. What's she after _now_?" He frowned at the details. "A bank?" He shook his head. "But she doesn't go after banks. It's not her thing." He leaned away from the monitor. "This ain't right."

Cassie crossed her arms and turned towards him. "So, since she's one of yours, do you want to go after her?"

"Yeah," Bart answered, "Something's up. You guys let me talk to her, okay? She's not all bad. Maybe she's in trouble and needs some help." He frowned at the screen again. "She'll be long gone by the time we all get there."

Robin reached into his utility belt and stuck a tracking device behind Bart's ear. "We'll catch up." In an eyeblink, Bart was in his Impulse costume and gone.

Cassie took a step towards Cissie, "Are you coming?"

Cissie shook her head. "I quit, remember? Besides, I don't have any of my gear with me."

Disappointed, but not surprised, Cassie turned her attention to Thad. He had kept himself separate from the rest of the group, despite staying in the same room. "What about you?"

"I'm supposed to be in Manchester right now," he replied, "If I show up, then I'm violating my probation, and I'll have to deal with some self-righteous busybodies riding a power high. I'll pass."

Impulse slowed down just enough at the robbed bank to see the direction witnesses were pointing to police. That seemed like a good start in tracking White Lightning down! He kicked up a little more speed and weaved around nearly motionless cars. After a few blocks, he spotted the red and blue glow of the police car lights down one street. A sharp turn and he passed the cars. A passenger car ahead was in the process of pulling over to let the police pass, but there was a cyclist awfully close. With everything around him going so slow, Impulse couldn't tell if the car was going to stop short of the cyclist or not. Deciding not to take the chance, he hefted the bike and rider onto the empty sidewalk with a grunt.

Just ahead, he spotted the taillights of a motorcycle and a flying banner of a platinum blonde ponytail. There she was! She had a small crew with her this time, too. He raced towards her and noticed another motorcycle in front of her. Who was this? Since when did White Lightning follow anyone? The other biker was a girl, but that was all that Impulse could tell. Turning back to White Lightning, Impulse noticed that her face looked weird. He had seen a lot of her expressions in stills during all of his encounters with her, but she never looked as _bored_ as this.

"We gotta talk," he said to her, despite knowing that she would never understand him at this speed. "But first I gotta stop your friends, so the police can catch them."

Most of the riders were just too big for him to pull off of the bikes on his own, so he sabotaged each bike by vibrating important-looking pieces off of them. He hoped that would make them stop running. After that was done, he peeled White Lightning's fingers off of the handlebars of her motorcycle and hauled her away.

From his perch on Superboy's shoulders, Robin directed the flight to meet Impulse. They spotted the distinctive white and red between the railroad tracks and the back fence of a self-storage facility. Sitting on the ground at Impulse's oversized feet was a woman in a blue and white outfit.

"Guys! She's not talking to me!" Impulse announced to his friends before they even landed. "She's just sitting there! I can't get her to snap out of it!" He frantically darted between their landing site and White Lightning until they closed the gap.

Kon grinned appreciatively at White Lightning. "Fighting her must be fun."

Cassie elbowed him. "You would think that." She stood behind Robin, who was examining White Lightning's eyes. "Anything odd?"

"Lights are on, but no one's home," Robin answered. "I don't see any evidence of drugs or injury." He tilted her head from on side to another. "I don't see any control devices, either."

Another woman's voice purred from the end of the fence. "Well, isn't this _nice_."


	19. Subliminal

Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

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_Reset! Chapter Nineteen: Subliminal_

Cissie fidgeted on the couch in the parked spaceship. She lost count of how many rounds she played solo in Brawler. Deciding that the others had been gone for far too long, she picked up her cellphone and called Cassie. When all she got was the voicemail, she looked at the blond boy sitting on the other side of the room. "Inertia, you haven't said anything since they left."

His voice matched the annoyed expression on his face. "My _name_ is Thaddeus. Thaddeus Thawne. What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Something. Anything." She got up and examined the monitor station. "They've been gone for a while. Shouldn't they be back by now?"

"Yes," he answered. He endured a long silence while Cissie stared at him. He glared back at her. "What?"

"Shouldn't we try to check up on them?"

"Why? They went after White Lightning. I've taken her out with one hit before." Thad stared at the ceiling. "They probably got distracted with by something shiny." Suddenly, he felt dizzy and leaned forward to rest his head between his knees.

"Thaddeus?"

He lifted his head to see Cissie quickly cross the room. "How did you get so fast?"

"Fast?"

It was then that he realized that the familiar hum that flowed through his veins was gone, leaving behind a cold hollowness. His stomach clenched and his blood chilled. "You didn't speed up. I slowed down!" He bolted to his feet, staring at his hands. "I can't vibrate. I can't..." He turned to Cissie with wide eyes. "There _was_ something wrong with the Speed Force!"

"That's what gives you and Bart your powers, riiiii..." Her words slowed down to a crawl and Thaddeus discovered that he felt whole again. A quick vibration proved that could move just as he was used to.

He waited for her to finish that last syllable. "It's back. Whatever happened, it's back." Glancing at the monitor station, he added, "I'm going to go contact Bart. I need to know if this happened to him, too." He paused in midstep and furrowed his brow. "How _do_ I contact him from here?" Approaching the monitor station, he surveyed the controls. "From this?"

Cissie held up her phone. "This is all I know of and Cassie's not answering." She scrolled through her contact list. "I'll try it again."

Just before the call went to voicemail, Bart's voice answered. "Hello?"

Cissie let go of the breath that she didn't realize she was holding. "Bart? Are you okay?"

In an eyeblink, Thad darted to Cissie and tried to listen in on the call. "Did his speed cut out? Ask him!"

Turning up the volume on the phone, they listened to Bart's answer. "Yeah! And then it came back and I snapped out it! Guys! There's this lady who does mind control here and she got White Lightning and then she got us! I got free, 'cause my speed coming back reset me or something. Then Cassie's phone rang and I grabbed it and ran away, 'cause I wanted to call you guys. Who's Ralph?"

It took a moment for Cissie to process the fast deluge of words. "Ralph? I don't know. Why are you asking?"

"'Cause that's who the phone said was calling."

Cissie's eyes widened and she grinned sheepishly. "Oh! That! That's me. That's a name I tried on during one of my weird phases."

A stereo reply from both speedsters disoriented her. "_Ralph?_"

"Yeah. Weird phase," Cissie dismissed. "So, what about the others? Are they in trouble?"

"Yeah," Bart answered, "She's got 'em just hanging around in this dirty old apartment. I don't think she knows what to do with us yet. Her henchies are mind controlled too, I think, 'cause they have the same bored look that the others have."

Thad broke into the conversation. "Who is she?"

"I dunno. I've never seen her before. She said that she was thinking of calling herself Subliminal, but she's not sure of it yet." Bart paused, and then remarked, "She likes to talk to people that don't talk back. Maybe it's just a bad guy thing. Do you think she's lonely? Maybe she needs a puppy."

Cissie shared an exasperated glance with Thad. "Nevermind that, Bart. You have to snap the others out of whatever hold she has them in!"

"How do I do that?"

This time, it was Thad who answered, "Knock out the one controlling them! Start there! If they don't immediately recover, then you won't have to deal with her trying to recapture you! Moron! Can't you come up with something that simple?"

Bart's voice carried an offended tone. "You don't have to get mean about it! Okay, I'm going!" Before he hung up, they heard him mutter, "I wish I had pockets."

Impulse jammed the cellphone under the wriststraps of his left glove and oriented on the apartment. "Okay, Max. Don't let the Speed Force glitch out on me. 'Cause that would be really doubleplus ungood." He raced back to the sparsely furnished apartment and charged Subliminal. Suddenly, the world sped up around him and she decked him first. Shocked, Impulse stared at her. Dark-haired, dark-eyed, and dark-skinned, she had a smile that said that she was very pleased with herself. Realizing the trouble he was in, Impulse squeezed his eyes shut and waited for her to make her move.

Moments later, he heard her snap, "Open your eyes, already!"

He wasn't mind controlled yet? He started to open one eye, and then closed it tight again. Shaking his head, he answered, "Don't wanna."

Subliminal's tone was irate. "What's with that answer? What are you? Three? Open your eyes and face me like a man!"

Impulse briefly wondered how well she would get along with Thad and Wally. She certainly shared their like of yelling at him. "Nope! Not gonna!" When was his speed going to come back? He hated feeling gutted like this! "Waitasec. Why do you want me to open my eyes? Is that how your powers work?" He told a small step backwards, trying to remember the layout of the room. "Kinda... Kinda like in that story that Wondergirl told me? The lady with snakes for hair?" If he had a marker, he would black out his goggles. He really needed pockets or a utility belt like Robin's. That gave him an idea. Where was Robin in the room?

Subliminal's voice barked out orders. "You two, grab him and hold him still!"

Impulse turned his back on her and risked opening his eyes. Superboy and Robin were advancing on him. As soon as he focused on Robin's utility belt, they were in arm's reach. He ducked a grab by Superboy and grasped the trailing edge of Robin's cape. Popping back up, Impulse flipped Robin's cape over the Boy Wonder's head and reached for the utility belt. His fingers quickly traced a path to the clasp and he unfastened the belt from Robin's waist. Hoping to buy a little more time, he twisted Robin around, closed his eyes, and thrust the other boy into Kon's arms. Blindly, he ran towards the apartment door, choking down the panic that was twisting through his core.

"All of you, get him!" Subliminal sounded angry now. The floor shook with the footfalls of her horde.

Impulse couldn't keep his eyes closed any longer and he spotted the door. He lunged for it, only to discover that it was locked. Fumbling with the locks shaved away precious seconds he didn't have. He felt fingers slip along his costume as he bolted outside. Heart pounding, he sprinted away at what felt like a slug's pace. He could hear the thundering stampede chasing after him, telling him that he couldn't let up his pace for even a moment. He vaulted over fences and wove a zigzagging path through the town. Soon, the sounds of pursuit faded and he ducked behind a parked car to catch his breath. His hands shook as he investigated Robin's belt. "Smoke pellets!" he whispered to himself, "Give me smoke pellets!" He found a couple different pouches with pellets, but he couldn't tell which kind was in each pouch. Still crouched, Impulse fastened Robin's belt around his own waist and grinned. "I'm Batman!" he snickered to himself. He knew that this was not the time for jokes, but it made him feel better.

He wound through a route back to Subliminal's apartment base without crossing his own path. It took a while, but he made it back without seeing or hearing anything of her lackeys or his hijacked friends. Just outside the door, he put a few pellets into his hand and squeezed his eyes shut. Bolting inside, he counted long strides, intending to stop in the middle of the main living space. He heard Subliminal give the order to her returned drones to grab him again. This time, there was almost no time between the order and the hands clamping down on him. Impulse threw down the pellets and the bright flash of light was apparent even behind his eyelids. Those weren't the smoke pellets. Hearing groans of pain and murmurs of confusion around him accompany his release, he reached for the other pouch and threw the other pellets to the floor. This time he was rewarded with the scent of obscuring smoke.

Now he opened his eyes and oriented on Subliminal. "Knock the bad lady out!" he shouted to his friends.

It was White Lightning's voice that answered in the fog, "_Glad_ to, sweetie." She slammed a strike against Subliminal's head. "You ain't nothin' like your mama," she snarled as Subliminal slumped to the floor, "Your mama didn't go stabbin' people in the back when they asked for help." She turned to the dazed henchmen. "Y'all get outta here! _Get!_" The confused men left the apartment and White Lightning turned to Young Justice. "And I suggest that she gets turned over to the authorities before she comes to." Wondergirl stepped up to the task and flew out of the apartment with the unconscious Subliminal in her arms.

Impulse approached White Lightning and blocked her exit. "What happened?"

"Oh, I was lookin' for an old friend and found her good-for-nothin' daughter instead," she drawled, "Don't know what happened to her mama. She never said. I almost don't wanna know." She sighed and pushed her voluminous hair away from her face. "So, now what? You gonna take me in?"

Impulse shook his head. "Not your fault this time. You were being controlled."

White Lightning tousled his hair and pecked a kiss on his forehead. "You're a good kid, you know that?"

"You be good, too, okay?"

As she sauntered away, Robin tapped Impulse's shoulder. "Belt."

"But I'm Batman!" Impulse grinned, sticking his index fingers up alongside the top of his head in imitation of bat ears. When Robin put on a stern expression and held out his hand, Impulse sighed and took the utility belt off. "Okay." He handed the belt over to its rightful owner.

Superboy watched White Lightning until she disappeared from view. "It is so not fair that you get to have _her_ as an opponent."

"So, how does she operate?" Robin asked, "She's always getting away."

"Mind control," Impulse answered, "But hers doesn't work real good on me."

Kon grimaced and buried his fingers in his hair. "Bart, please, please, _please_ tell me that the signature superpower here in the south is not mind control!"

"Um, it's not mind control?" Bart shrugged, "I guess. I dunno." He shrugged again.

"Ugh, first Gilly, and now this Subliminal chick," Kon muttered as he hovered away. "At least this one was smokin' hot and, as long as she didn't have a ragin' case of halitosis, I wouldn't mind making out with her."

Robin shook his head and strode towards the exit. "Why am I not surprised?" He gestured towards the door. "Ready to head back to the ship?"

Impulse drooped his head. "Kon, can you give me a lift too? My speed's gone."

Back in the ship, Thad and Cissie waited on the couch. Cissie paused with a can of soda halfway to her lips. "Are you serious? Your grandfather did all of that? Here I thought my mom was nuts. Why would he do that to his own grandsons? His own daughter?"

Thad shrugged, "I wish I could comprehend it, but only now is it striking me as abnormal."

She set the soda down. "I never knew much about Bart's family, just that he lived with Max and that the Flash was his cousin. He never really talked about it. At least my mother wanted me to help people and take care of myself, crazy as she was. Y'know, we could form our own support group out of this." Then she grinned, "But then again, I guess that's what Young Justice is anyways." Cissie's grin faded and she sighed. "I hope they're okay."

"My speed hasn't returned yet," Thad noted, "Bart should be having some difficulties."

Cissie jumped when her phone rang. "Cassie!" she answered, "Is everything all right?"

"We're fine," Cassie replied, "We're on our way back. Bart's speed is gone, though."

"Yeah, Thad's having the same problem." In the background, past the crackling roar of rushing wind, she could barely hear Bart's shouted greeting. "He sounds okay, otherwise."

"He's a little bummed about it, but yeah, he's fine," Cassie reported back, "He'll probably want to tell you all about how he saved the day, Batman-style."

After Cissie hung up and pocketed her phone, she drew her knees up to her chest on the couch. "Well, I feel better now. Nobody's hurt." Thad harrumphed and stretched out on the couch. Raising an eyebrow, Cissie regarded him. "Glad to know you care so much for your brother."

"He's a nuisance," grumbled Thad.

"Not that I have much first hand experience, but that's what siblings generally are, from what I've heard."

Thad's expression shifted from grumpy to perplexed. "So, wanting to strangle Bart is _normal_?"

Cissie laughed. "_Everyone's_ wanted to strangle Bart at one point or another. That's just him."

His eyes widened. "Oh."

She propped her chin up in her hand and grinned. "The way you said that made it sound like an epiphany."

"I spent most of my life in virtual reality isolation with a green blob as my only companion," Thad retorted, "I have a lot to catch up on." A sudden surge of energy crackled through him and time changed speed. He had to make an effort to speak slowly enough for Cissie to understand him. "My speed has returned. I wonder how long it will last this time?"

Listening to Cissie's voice drag out each sound was a little disheartening. He liked having a conversation at his speed. Now, he patiently waited and listened, putting together the spoken puzzle one piece at a time. When it was finally done, her words came to be, "Hopefully long enough for Bart to run me back to Elias. The next fastest is Kon and that's still a long time to be carried."

"I could carry you," Thad remarked before he realized what he said. Unfortunately, he spoke at a speed that was more comfortable for him.

"What was that?" Cissie asked.

Thad briefly considered making up something else. After all, why should he volunteer to play pack mule? "I could carry you," he slowly repeated, "If both of us transport everyone home, then there should be a reduced chance of someone being stranded in case of another speed outage."

Soon, the sound of an approaching conversation outside the open entry hatch heralded the return of the Young Justice crew. Bart flopped down on the curved passenger seat that was now the resident couch. "And on top of all of that, Max is staying in the Speed Force to do something and he won't tell me what!"

Thad tore his eyes away from Cissie and frowned. "Something about the way you said that suggests that you've spoken to Max since _we_ last saw him."

Bart shrugged. "Kinda. I dunno if I'm really talking to Max or if it's just a dream. We're always in the backyard and the sky is always like it's sunset or something. Last night, he told me that I had to master stop if I wanted to master go. Whatever that means." He shrugged again and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Has he tried to talk to you?"

Shaking his head, Thad answered, "No, but I haven't been sleeping much, either."

"Well, make sure you get some sleep tonight, so he can pester you instead," Bart grumped, "You might like his Mysterious Zen Master act."

Cissie stood up and cleared her throat. "Not that I've been having fun hanging out with everyone, but with our rides having engine trouble, we should probably go home before they get hit with another outage."

Robin sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah." He turned to Bart, "I hope this clears up soon."

"Me too," Bart answered, "And you all send me emails and stuff, okay?"

Bart carried Robin back to Gotham, while Thad made good on his offer to ferry Cissie back to her dormitory. Kon and Cassie both took to the skies. Once the spaceship was emptied of anything perishable and locked up, Bart returned to Manchester. Even though Max was still gone, he still had Helen, his friends, and now a reluctant brother to come home to. As the sun set, it painted the Alabama sky in brilliant reds and golds, splashing color on the heavy clouds gathering on the horizon.

Helen stepped out the back door and called out to her wards, who were playing with Dox. "There's a storm coming, boys. Time to come in."

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_A/N: I'm thinking of ending the fic here and starting up the next part of this story in a different fic. This one is getting to that point where the length might be intimidating readers. Thanks to everyone who's read it and thanks to everyone who has commented!_


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